Where Everyone Prefers Your Name

I’ve been a customer at RCU for as long as I can remember. For all those years, our relationship has been just as I like my relationships with financial institutions – uneventful.

They’re upgrading their system and sent out a letter alerting customers to the changes they might be expect and when to expect them. The biggest change – account numbers. The account number you’ve been accustomed to has changed. In the letter, RCU consoles;

“Please know that our staff will be able to assist your quickly if you provide your current Account Number, however we’ll know you better by your NAME!” (emphasis theres)

Such a refreshing change from the customer as account number mentality.

What’s Your Favorite Open Source Project?

Hello gentle reader, I’m looking for your favorite open source projects; applications, websites, services. If the code is available for free and you’re a big fan, throw them in the comments.

    I’ll start:
    WordPress – weblog engine and content management system
    Ruby on Rails – web application framework
    CocoaMySQL – OS X desktop MySQL database manager
    Adium – Multi-protocol Instant Messaging client

Garrick is Asked the Uncomfortable Questions

While you’re patiently waiting for the next First Crack podcast, you can listen to me on the other side of the interview table answering the big ‘why are we here’ questions in Sue Grandys’ Uncomfortable Questions.

My goal with the First Crack podcast is to average one conversation a week. I know it’s been quiet here, I’m stilll going to make that average.

Why Google AdSense Doesn’t Work

For a while now, Dave Slusher hasn’t been happy with “dead fish” performance of Google AdSense on his site. We pulled AdSense off MNteractive.com months and months ago because of the same problems. I haven’t even considered looking back.

I believe Jim Cuene and I hit on the crux of the problem this morning;
Google AdSense doesn’t work because the ads are publisher focused.

The Vastness of America at 10 MPH

One of the reasons we drove to Boulder was to remind ourselves of the vastness of this great country. Miles and miles of little more than telephone line. Maybe a house. Maybe a gas station. Dirt road intersecting the highway.

Even in the most remote areas, someone has a house. With electricity and a phone.

The fact ribbons of highway run multiple directions through every state with phone and electrical line spun even tighter is a remarkable feat. Something we take for granted far too often.

If you haven’t yet, check out the trailer of Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell 10 mph Segway journey from Seattle to Boston.

Kansas at 80 mph was a long day. At 10mph? That’s plenty of time to think.

Business Podcast Sighting: Cisco

Had another conversation yesterday about how podcasting can help business communicate and connect both internally and externally. One thing coming out of these conversations – there’s probably audio or video somewhere in your organization that is collecting dust and could be more used and more useful in an RSS feed. Aside from the convenience, there’s an accessibility aspect to podcasting.

Steve Rubel at Micro Persuasion pointed to News@Cisco Podcast the podcast from Cisco’s PR team.

The Mass Market Mentality vs Individual Customer

Doug Kaye states Mark Ramsey doesn’t get podcasting.

Mark Ramsey replies that Doug doesn’t get broadcasting.

Yes, podcasting is a great opportunity for broadcasters to experiment and create a farm team. Yes, podcasting is a no-brainer for a broadcasters to connect with their audience on their audience’s terms. Finally, Yes, podcasting is the easiest way to share audio on a very specific, niche topic with self-selected people.

Mark is right, podcasting and videoblogging can’t be shoehorned into traditional distribution channels:

“But ask your local movie theater how much they care to show a movie only a few people see, ask the local bookseller how much they want to stock a book only a few folks buy.”

No, it doesn’t make sense for a movie theater to show an extremely niche production. Though perhaps if they did, it would help solve their current attendance problems. Mark Cuban suggests focusing on the customer also. Though, perhaps even movie theaters are already catering to niche audience; those that don’t find DVDs from Netflix good enough.

On the Silicon Valley Gillmor Gang, Robert Scoble complains that while Adam Curry’s early Daily Source Codes were addictive (that’s why I started podcasting), Curry’s PodShow on Sirius Satellite Radio isn’t interesting in the least. Proving that podcasting is unique from radio, just as blogs are unique from newspapers, and videoblogs are unique from television.

Nothing in podcasting requires it to be a stepping stone to mass appeal. It could be, and this is a benefit – especially to broadcasters. But podcasting can in-fact be the end game. Independent and ignorant of broadcasting’s constraints a podcaster could build a small (less than 10,000), loyal, and passionate listener base by fulfilling an extremely specific niche. A successful podcast – though a failure by broadcast measures.

iTunes Top 100 Podcast list (counting the number of times in 24 hrs the ‘subscribe’ link was clicked), the Feedster Top 500 list, and every other Top X listing is an attempt at shoehorning. As Dave Slusher eludes, these rankings assume all blogs and podcasts are competing for the exact same audience. If you’re looking for a blog or podcast on gardening in the Upper Midwest or learning Japanese, these lists don’t help. More on the “Evils of Head-ism” at the Long Tail including the fantastic, “Nobody cares if bananas outsell soft drinks.”

Ultimately, I’m talking about 2 very different mentalities:

  1. The market is a mass of nameless, faceless consumers with the same basic needs and the goal is to make advertisers happy.
  2. The market is made of individual customers, each with very specific needs and the goal is to build a deep, unique relationship with them directly.

Considering customers now regularly blog about their market experiences, I recommend option number 2. As does Seth Godin in his recent ‘Clueless’ post