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Twitter Link Roundup #124 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The photo to the left shows one of the strangest houses that one can find around the world. I hope they have an elevator! More strange houses in the Other section below.

One Customer Doesn’t Make a Market – http://bit.ly/zdUkS6

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Milk & Media Studios – http://bit.ly/zLqWsH

Are You Building A Company, Or Just Your Credentials? – http://tcrn.ch/GJ2pl9

Are Women Better Leaders than Men? – http://bit.ly/wjM6ny

Looking to Get Creative? Skip SxSW – http://bit.ly/z8owbA

Silicon Valley’s Hottest VC Is a Rug Dealer – http://onforb.es/GTFFCZ

Are You Building A Company, Or Just Your Credentials? – http://tcrn.ch/GJ2pl9

One Customer Doesn’t Make a Market – http://bit.ly/zdUkS6

Marketing is the next big money sector in technology – http://bit.ly/GF6GLU

The Hunger Games: Using Social Media Marketing to Bring Fiction to Life – http://bit.ly/GF5FTY

A Short Lesson in Perspective – http://bit.ly/GR2m7W

Facebook’s New Business Pages Means Marketers Must Evolve – http://bit.ly/GF674I

Marketing is the next big money sector in technology – http://bit.ly/GF6GLU

Teens, Smartphones & Texting – http://bit.ly/GP4Gf1

50 Fresh and High Quality Adobe Photoshop Tutorials – http://bit.ly/Ac3sdH

A Collection of Western Fonts for your Designs – http://bit.ly/GONffd

30 Very Useful Photoshop Tutorials for Every Type of Designer – http://bit.ly/GONiHO

What’s Coming Up Next? Use Interactive Infographics To Stand Out! Why? – http://bit.ly/wzzU9U

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

Free Advice for: The New York Times iPad App

Monday, March 19th, 2012

I am a crank. There, I said it. Around the cS offices, I have a reputation as a curmudgeon and grouch. I have never been slow to voice an opinion, file a complaint, or take a company to task for everything from a unreliable product to poor customer service. This post is intended as the first in a series of “free advice” columns for producers of software and other services on how they can improve their products, marketing, messaging, branding, strategy, tactics… I could go on and on. And I plan to.

I tend to find many of my experiences interacting with products and services to be annoying. Frustrating. Maddening. This seems to happen to me all too often in the world of user interface and user experience. The art and science of UI/UX is a well established presence in software and web design, yet plumbing the esoteric mysteries is beyond the ken of the average entrepreneur or small business person. But, we sure do know it when we see it and, shockingly, in the age of Web 3.x we see it way too often. In many cases the subjective judgment of the end user should create a roadmap for designers and developers, and the very best companies take into account customer feedback and other primary research such as user testing, focus group response, and media reviews of their offerings.

Now, I have been the happy owner of an iPad 2 for over a year now and use it extensively. I send and receive emails; I schedule my life on the calendar. I get directions. I use cookbooks; I do banking and financial transactions; I shop; I watch videos; I listen to music. And I read. Books, magazines, blogs, and The New York Times. I consider it to be the best newspaper in the world and it is my primary source for information on everything from politics, to world affairs, to economics, business, sports, and politics. The Op-Ed page is probably the single greatest source for starting conversations around the crowdSPRING lunch table (that’s right, team. I get that stuff from the Op-Eds). The Times on the iPad probably represents the single greatest time investment I make outside of my work and my family. Get it? I am a heavy user of this product and a loyal consumer of the Time’s content. But. It could be better and it should be better. The Times has some of the highest-powered design and UI talent on the face of the earth working right there in the building; I know because I saw a couple of them speak at SXSW in 2009 (impressive). I do wish that they would spend a little more time iterating and improving – so here’s 5 things I want them to do. For me. That’s right, for me.

1. More and better graphics. What could be more annoying than an article that refers to a specific graphic or image and then doesn’t include that graphic! Well, I’ll tell you one thing that’s more annoying – a regular column about photography titled The Lens Blog that includes absolutely no photographs. And not just once, but week after week. Why even put it in the iPad version of the paper if you’re not going to include the photographs. Jeesh.

2. Let me customize. Yes, the app does let me determine the order of the sections, but why not the page layout? Why not how and where I want to view those images I was complaining about a minute ago? I want to build my own version of the front page with the top articles I like to see and how hard can it be? If Yahoo has been giving me a customizable landing page since 1973, then why can’t the NYT app?

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Posted in business, How To, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #123 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The video above shows a mechanical device for opening and pouring a bottle of wine. It’s complicated, huge, loud and I love it!

How anyone can create a successful online business for next to nothing (Part III) – http://bit.ly/yyTI6X

Why Do Some People Learn Faster? – http://bit.ly/wFcigV

Why You Need Marketing Analytics, Not Web Analytics – http://bit.ly/zYurcM

Competitive Differentiation that Matters – http://perfor.ms/wzrk7a7 Rules for Bootstrapping a Business – http://bit.ly/A5uzm7

Repeat after me: business is always about the customer – http://bit.ly/zzdgnG

Women (Entrepreneurs) Who Go Their Own Way – http://bit.ly/wrBdYn

Twitter’s Secret History As the World’s Worst Tech or Media Business – http://gaw.kr/wH6hqq

Why I left Google – http://bit.ly/xDOns2

Competitive Differentiation that Matters – http://perfor.ms/wzrk7a

A Start-Up Ecosystem Forms in Chicago – http://on.wsj.com/y09pUa

How Y Combinator Started – http://bit.ly/yqjidP

Repeat after me: business is always about the customer – http://bit.ly/zzdgnG

Name dropping! Now what could go wrong with Silicon Valley – http://bit.ly/AvdwaV

Hiring of Kevin Rose by Google sends all the wrong signals to Silicon Valley – http://bit.ly/FORxBS

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time – http://bit.ly/wSMs9S

Secrets of the acquisition process from EA and Zynga – http://bit.ly/wv3Mv0

5 New Spots for Chicago Tech Entrepreneurs – http://on.wsj.com/yBMyce

Startup Recruiting 101: Strategies, Hacks & Don’ts – http://bit.ly/zOrH9P

Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas – http://bit.ly/zXgY76

Why Do Some People Learn Faster? – http://bit.ly/wFcigV

7 Rules for Bootstrapping a Business – http://bit.ly/A5uzm7

How I Changed My Life, In Four Lines – http://bit.ly/yh474X

Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than all the Macs it sold in 28 years – http://bit.ly/yJH8Di

A Big Idea: Y Combinator Now Lets Founders Apply Without… An Idea – http://tcrn.ch/yIN4yB

Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann’s Lesson for Start-Ups: Go Your Own Way – http://bit.ly/wAReI6

Why are companies defecting from Google Maps? – http://bit.ly/xAXRxU

Why This 29-Year-Old’s Company is Worth $400 Million – http://bit.ly/xVSisb

MEMO TO EVERYONE: You Can’t Beat Apple By Trying To Be More Like Apple – http://read.bi/AmSLDw

U.S. Manufacturers Are Hurting Themselves by the Way They Hire – http://bit.ly/yD0ssP

Yahoo! Crosses The Line – http://bit.ly/zpjLxf

Why You Need Marketing Analytics, Not Web Analytics – http://bit.ly/zYurcM

How Three Germans Are Cloning the Web – http://buswk.co/y7mhHn

Twitter’s Ad Sales Are Booming, Says Gawker – http://bit.ly/yYnJNe

Why Marketers Never Learn From Others’ Social-Media Mistakes – http://bit.ly/zBXNci

Marketing the Viral Effect and Not-for-Profit Gold – http://bit.ly/zpLFbK

How This Man Made Dos Equis a Most Interesting Marketing Story – http://bit.ly/y5JtJm

Why You Need Marketing Analytics, Not Web Analytics – http://bit.ly/zYurcM

Honest ads that say what we’re all really thinking – http://bit.ly/wqvsZM

Trada Has Unlocked The Secret To Google And Facebook Ads That Work – http://bit.ly/zuAQ04

Top Non-Destructive Photoshop Techniques – http://bit.ly/xiqLO1

“Be interested in being wrong.” An interview with Jonathan Ive, Apple’s designer – http://bit.ly/y9top2

PBS Mini Documentary About Typography – http://bit.ly/zBwjp5

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #122 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image to the left is a photo taken from inside a musical instrument. More interesting photos taken inside musical instruments in the Other section below.

Image credit: Brjoern Ewers

Small Business Tips: Foreign Payments, The Patriot Act, OFAC, and you. – http://bit.ly/xW82GP

This is a good resource for email subject lines: http://bit.ly/yMwZPL

The Importance of Brand in an Era of Digital Darwinism – http://bit.ly/wo6iYn

Selling or Funding A Startup? Tips On Surviving Technical Due Diligence – http://bit.ly/A8h315

I’m getting sick of the bullshit – http://bit.ly/ysF40u

Where Do Good Ideas Come From? – http://bit.ly/yyHVDA

How are VCs paid (and should entrepreneurs care)? – http://bit.ly/w2B2Cy

The safe career path in the future – skip college and start a company – http://bit.ly/wT6yZZ

Why entrepreneurs don’t sleep well – http://perfor.ms/zJPjIZ

Why Startups Should Curate Content – http://bit.ly/yXHwyP

The Importance of Brand in an Era of Digital Darwinism – http://bit.ly/wo6iYn

Google’s Rules of Acquisition: How to Be an Android, Not an Aardvark – http://bit.ly/wLVxma

Entrepreneurs must learn to listen and others must learn to give constructive feedback – http://bit.ly/y9Q9WD

Four Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Warren Buffett – http://bit.ly/xN4EUz

Ambient Social Location Apps Will be Consumer Duds – http://rww.to/we3laJ

Always Go Home with the Lady Who Brought you to the Dance (about startup fundraising) – http://bit.ly/w0OJnx

One Year Later: How Google Panda Changed Our Business – http://tcrn.ch/wacRfO

Fred Wilson’s Latest Advice for Start-up Ninjas – http://bit.ly/wKhpMn

Customer Validation: What To Do Post Product/Market Fit – http://bit.ly/A5JiIo

How to Develop Your Fund Raising Strategy – http://bit.ly/xzXcEz

Have Arrington and Conway screwed up big time with their investment in Highlight? – http://scoble.it/ACh25Z

Most Web Design Agencies Suck – http://bit.ly/w5AI2f

The Importance of Brand in an Era of Digital Darwinism – http://bit.ly/wo6iYn

30+ Extreme and Controversial Ads – http://bit.ly/zdMkIP

Did Facebook Just Kill Earned Media? – http://bit.ly/w6mLYR

Have Facebook Stores Flopped? – http://bit.ly/z02X9a

One Year Later: How Google Panda Changed Our Business – http://tcrn.ch/wacRfO

American Express transforms Twitter hashtags into savings for cardholders – http://bit.ly/A0lI7h

This is a good resource for email subject lines: http://bit.ly/yMwZPL

Google Is About Failure — The Failure Of Brands – http://onforb.es/y8A00y

E-commerce calls to action: 10 best practice tips – http://bit.ly/zL87Ec

The Collapse of Print Advertising in 1 Graph – http://bit.ly/wEET3j

Who Decides What Gets Sold in the Bookstore? – http://bit.ly/zYiF3R

Connecting Nonprofits With Pro Bono Help – http://bit.ly/yhe3Dp

20 Free Sans-Serif Fonts Licensed for Font-Face – http://bit.ly/wqWkNa

[Freebie] 15 Photoshop Watercolor Brushes – http://bit.ly/xpu1AW

50+ Amazing & Clever Examples of Alternative Movie Poster Design – http://bit.ly/zdgKdp

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

Small Business Tips: Foreign Payments, The Patriot Act, OFAC, and you.

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Every time I find myself on the security line at the airport, I watch the folks ahead of me anticipating that someone will be pulled from the line because their name appeared on the TSA “no-fly” list. I have yet to see this happen, but I sympathize with the poor schlub whose name matches that of a known evil-doer.

Many small businesses that regularly make overseas payments to customers, vendors, or clients are unaware that they too may fall victim to a lesser-known “no-fly” list. Compliments of the USA Patriot Act, these payments, often made through bank wire transfers or International “FX” payments are subject to similar scrutiny but via a less-publicized list of names.

The United States Treasury Department overseas the transfer of capital internationally and are charged with regulating these transfers. The Office of Foreign Assets Control administers and enforces various economic sanctions programs; you may be familiar with the restrictions and embargoes that are placed on countries such as North Korea or Iran which are designed to put foreign policy pressure on those and other governments. And it is not just countries with nuclear ambitions that are embargoed, but also those considered at risk for security reasons such as terrorism and narcotics trafficking.

OFAC not only has the ability to block transactions bound for specific countries, but also maintains a list of specific individuals to whom payment can be blocked or delayed. If a person’s name appears on the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN), any payments or other financial transactions intended for them can be blocked, delayed, or even confiscated. OFAC updates and publishes this list online, but is time consuming to search and, for many businesses may be impractical to do so for every payment sent.

All US-based businesses, small and large, are responsible for complying with these regulations and a business has very little control over the policies, procedures, and penalties which can be assessed for companies which violate OFAC compliance guidelines. Most banks and international payments facilitators such as PayPal and Western Union have policies and programs in effect that will help businesses to remain in compliance and enforce OFAC rules on payments sent via their systems.

Here are a few tips on what you can do to assure that you remain in compliance and to assist should you find that a transaction you initiate is flagged or held by OFAC.

1. Know how it works. OFAC compliance is complex and the best defense is a good offense.  You can learn everything you need to know on the Treasury Department website, although it can be difficult to navigate and search.

2. Check with your banking or financial institution. Your bank is a great place to start; have a conversation with your client manager or bank officer and ask what you can do on your end prior to initiating a transfer. The goal is to limit the surprises that will come your way if you attempt payment to a business, or individual from one of the affected countries or to someone on the  SDN List.

3. Ask for the relevant information. A good strategy is to request from your payees the specific personal information that OFAC may require if your payment is held. This can include  information such as flu and complete name, place of birth, date of birth, country of citizenship, legal residence, or profession; in addition you may be asked to provide the specific purpose of the payment. It can be a delicate matter to ask for this kind of information, but most people will be happy to comply if they understand why you are asking.

4. Stay up to date. The Treasury Department regularly updates the SDN list and you can download a PDF version of the list here. OFAC also provides an online search tool which allows you to search by individual names as well as by country, entity, or even address.

Two other valuable resources provided by OFAC are a comprehensive list of FAQs, as well as information for specific industries groups here.


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Posted in business, Small biz spotlight, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #121 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image to the left shows the Lord Howe stick insect, Dryocecelus australis, which was presumed extinct by 1960 but found again in 2001 on Ball’s Pyramid, the remains of an old volcano that emerged from the sea 7 million years ago.

How to Start Your Business on the Cheap–With Help From the Crowd – http://bit.ly/xszFer

What Small Businesses Can Learn From Jeremy Lin – http://bit.ly/ytKN38

9 Ways Google+ Can Help Your Business – http://bit.ly/wr1nmi

How to tell your customers that you screwed up? – http://perfor.ms/xpHWe9

Secrets to Select and Evaluate Innovative Business Ideas – http://t.co/nTduJ80M

Don’t try to game the system – provide awesome service instead (good reminder from Seth Godin) – http://bit.ly/ymBgLs

Why Cloud Is A Big Deal For Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC] – http://bit.ly/xViGUG

7 Things Your New Website Must Have – http://bit.ly/wdvXOj

How to Make the Move From Big-Business Employee to Small-Business Owner – http://bit.ly/xPdxOR

How to Start Your Business on the Cheap–With Help From the Crowd – http://bit.ly/xszFer

Once you take money, the clock starts ticking – http://bit.ly/AhLVVb

Secrets to Select and Evaluate Innovative Business Ideas – http://t.co/nTduJ80M

How To Choose A Co-Founder – http://bit.ly/AqQAV4

Twitter, the Startup That Wouldn’t Die – http://buswk.co/zUnqtF

A classic startup horror story: the M&A bait and switch – http://bit.ly/ABwzQd

Change Your Employees’ Minds, Change Your Business – http://bit.ly/A2JOUs

Paths to $5M for a startup founder – http://hub.am/z8oapS

Patience & Persistence – http://bit.ly/wuYlyi

“Is this a billion dollar business?:” The tension between market sizing and innovation – http://bit.ly/ygRE6u

How the bathroom can teach us a lesson about right vs. pragmatic – http://bit.ly/zlg2O9

Why Tech Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries Struggle to Raise Funds – http://bit.ly/z92G5s

3 things entrepreneurs need to know about patent law reform – http://bit.ly/ybR4ZK

Kickstart Your Lean Startup With Effective Feedback – http://bit.ly/wvzYrQ

Caterina Fake: Fast Growth for a New Social App Is a Very Bad Thing – http://bit.ly/zfMARM

Fun look at home and office desk/computer setups of the team 37signals – http://bit.ly/xUGFJD

9 Ways Google+ Can Help Your Business – http://bit.ly/wr1nmi

MEET THE NEXT CEO OF MICROSOFT: Steven Sinofsky Is The Heir Apparent – http://read.bi/A13ZH9

How to tell your customers that you screwed up? – http://perfor.ms/xpHWe9

Four Traps That Suck Meaning Out Of Work – http://bit.ly/yvI4Q7

Raising funding as a first-time founder – http://zite.to/yw8vYP

Don’t try to game the system – provide awesome service instead (good reminder from Seth Godin) – http://bit.ly/ymBgLs

Ten Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank – http://tcrn.ch/AesPu2

Banksy on advertising – http://bit.ly/ygGWcg

The Illustrated Anatomy of a Viral Pinterest Scam – http://bit.ly/y11w3h

9 Ways Google+ Can Help Your Business – http://bit.ly/wr1nmi

Leveraging the Social Media: 5 Ideas For Your Job Search http://bit.ly/xASKKM

Creating a Blog using Collaborative Consumption Services – http://bit.ly/xLGeCQ

Caterina Fake: Fast Growth for a New Social App Is a Very Bad Thing – http://bit.ly/zfMARM

Shocking. People click on Facebook ads that show breasts – http://bit.ly/AkaBej

Why Google+ Doesn’t Care If You Never Come Back – http://tcrn.ch/xhPWXY

Illustrator Tutorials: 70+ Awesome Hot New Tips – http://t.co/KnCMr2kO

50 Astounding Adobe Illustrator Tutorials – http://bit.ly/yUseqg

A Showcase of Free To Download Russian Fonts – http://bit.ly/AyESdS

28 Fresh Illustrations to Inspire You – http://bit.ly/yaazsh

1500+ Awesome Multi Color Gradients – http://bit.ly/zE3NIN

The Psychology Behind Movie Poster Designs – http://bit.ly/waahKU

22 Free Elegant Fonts For Logo Design – http://bit.ly/xT0E76

28 Inspiring Typography Examples within Poster Artwork – http://bit.ly/yEqKSf

Beautiful Bokeh Textures For Your Next Project – http://bit.ly/yPFicx

Hey Designers: Do You Want Your Artwork Visible On Google Earth!? http://bit.ly/zLUkqu

Free Quality Photoshop Brushes for Your Design Arsenal – http://bit.ly/xuN7M2

Design before computers ruled the universe – http://bit.ly/yC3KxD

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

Why Cloud Is A Big Deal For Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC]

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

Five years ago, a small business launching a new online product would traditionally have purchased their own servers and software, or leased servers, software and hosting services from one of many hosting providers around the world.

The cloud has changed the way individuals and organizations of all sizes leverage technology.

Cloud computing involves the delivery of computer hardware and software as a service rather than a product. Today, anyone can purchase, as a service, computation, software, applications, data access, storage, and much more. These changes allow small businesses and others to, among other advantages, reduce costs, improve scalability, and outsource all or nearly all of the maintenance for these services.

Our friends at Rackspace created the following infographic exploring the advantages of the cloud for small business and we wanted to share this with you.

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Posted in business, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »

Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Stack Exchange and Super User

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Got a technical, software or programming question like, “Is a function larger than an array [in Javascript]?” Or, do you just want to know when the first use of a secret identity in a comic book was? Either way, I’ve got your answer.

Well, I don’t, but Stack Exchange does. There’s a lot of user- generated question and answer sites out there, finding information you want isn’t necessarily difficult on the internet.  What struck me when I was browsing through Stack Exchange was that the quality of the questions was far better than your average Yahoo! Answers.  This is not a venue for “how du u kno wen ur in luv?” It’s smart people needing information from other smart people.  The homepage is an endless scroll of questions, most of them interesting enough I found myself browsing the site.  If you’re interested, the gent that founded Stack Exchange also founded Super User, a Q&A site that focuses only on technical questions.

Founder Jeff talks more below about creating a super exchange (see what I did there?):

How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?

If you have a technical question and type it in to Google, we want Stack Exchange (and Super User) be the page with the best answer!

What are some industry specific challenges you faced?  

There are a lot of sites and forums that already offer technical answers to computer questions. Getting heard above the din takes time and effort, but our focus on simple, clean presentation and a relentless dedication to quality pays off, particularly on new topics where there aren’t as many web pages out there.

If you could go back, would you do anything differently? If so, what and why?

We kind of screwed up by not having a special “meta” site for community members to discuss Super User until very recently. If we’ve learned anything, it is that “the place where you discuss the place” is an essential ingredient in any community. I wrote about this on my blog:http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/listen-to-your-community-but-dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-do.html but it finally exists now athttp://meta.superuser.com , although we should have had it from day one. (more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, Interviews, Small biz spotlight, Technology | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #120 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The video above shows Australian Magician James Galea performing an unbelievable magic trick with a deck of cards. How does he do that?

The Zappos Effect: 5 Great Customer Service Ideas – http://hub.am/yh0hLq

5 Ways to Use Social Media and Your Online Presence to Drive People Offline – http://bit.ly/wuUkMf

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Should I Get Married? – http://bit.ly/y3eS9q

Functions over Titles – http://awe.sm/5fI9Z

Agreeable Guys* Finish Last – http://bit.ly/zqA34S

10 Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Politicians – http://bit.ly/z68bxM

Ron Conway is a Silicon Valley startup’s best friend – http://bit.ly/xtt9L7

Zap your brain and get focused quickly. If it were only this easy – http://bit.ly/yl5kYS

The Three Things That Got Fab.com Two Million Users In Seven Months – http://read.bi/wdzAyR

Functions over Titles – http://awe.sm/5fI9Z

Does Startup Density Predict Success? – http://bit.ly/x8RfdY

Between failure and Facebook – http://bit.ly/wAE6BD

The Zappos Effect: 5 Great Customer Service Ideas – http://hub.am/yh0hLq

4 Entrepreneurial Lessons Learned From Self-Publishing My First Book – http://bit.ly/AmJBHT

Agreeable Guys* Finish Last – http://bit.ly/zqA34S

Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool – http://bit.ly/yGFips

We assume that brainstorming works pretty well to solve most problems. But does it really work? – http://nyr.kr/AbiEmG

The mad dash to remove something before the deadline – http://bit.ly/A94VTR

The Three Things That Got Fab.com Two Million Users In Seven Months – http://read.bi/wdzAyR

Is Bitcoin, once the next shiny thing, on its last breaths? – http://bit.ly/wf8fBR

50 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts for Your Designs – http://bit.ly/wKvinq

20 Free Fonts Used In Iconic Movies – http://bit.ly/zQudPt

12 Things I Have Learned After 7 Years of Freelancing – http://bit.ly/xUtycT

50 Useful and Fresh Photoshop Tutorials – http://bit.ly/xhiFE2

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

Twitter Link Roundup #119 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image to the left is a fun look at what a movie poster for an Oscar-nominated film would be like if it literally wanted to communicate what the movie was about. More fun posters in the Other section below.

8 Legal Steps for Starting Your Business – http://on.mash.to/AdW6Rn

Could Your Business Survive Without You? – http://bit.ly/ApHXux

Good tips on what to say when you fire someone (all biz owners must be comfortable doing this) – http://bit.ly/z1wLNw

Small Biz and Startup Tips: 5 Ideas to Prepare for an Economic Recovery – http://bit.ly/x64Zme

The Power of the Rule of Three in Marketing Your Small Business – http://bit.ly/wqmtu5

The Perpetually Vexing Problem of Hiring Programmers – http://bit.ly/w5QTm2

5 Reasons The Windy City is a Great Place for Startups – http://j.mp/zh4Zw8

How to build your startup without learning code – http://bit.ly/yPw6Vq

The Chicago FireStarter Venture Capital Fund – http://bit.ly/ytkmoa

The Perpetually Vexing Problem of Hiring Programmers – http://bit.ly/w5QTm2

SaaS: Change starts easy and then gets really hard – http://bit.ly/wZqTSt

Could Your Business Survive Without You? – http://bit.ly/ApHXux

8 Legal Steps for Starting Your Business – http://on.mash.to/AdW6Rn

This was the right response from Path – http://bit.ly/zNiKIi

Small Biz and Startup Tips: 5 Ideas to Prepare for an Economic Recovery – http://bit.ly/x64Zme

The Power of the Rule of Three in Marketing Your Small Business – http://bit.ly/wqmtu5

Good tips on what to say when you fire someone (all biz owners must be comfortable doing this) – http://bit.ly/z1wLNw

Pinterest is quietly generating revenue by modifying user submitted pins – http://bit.ly/xa9Aj5

When did advertising get so small? – http://bit.ly/xd0S8c

Good to see companies focus on real advertising metrics – http://bit.ly/xoHbOU

Silly to reach conclusions based on results of a study surveying 200 people (about twitter addiction) – http://bit.ly/yx4ssE

Is traffic from StumbleUpon just “noise”? – http://bit.ly/x6Sa9W

This was the right response from Path – http://bit.ly/zNiKIi

Yelp advertising is a rip-off for small advertisers – http://bit.ly/yraI9X

Only 1 “Top Brand” Has Created A Google+ Page In The Past Two Months, Report Says – http://bit.ly/yugLbG

Crowdsourcing has a longer-term payoff than originally thought: study – http://smrt.io/xCfZSm

Pinterest continues to impress with referral traffic – http://bit.ly/zHheNr

Those Millions on Facebook? Some May Not Actually Visit – http://nyti.ms/Af9DAG

Those Millions On Facebook? They Actually Visit, And It’s Not A Huge Deal Anyway. – http://tcrn.ch/yDQUPv

Rice University And OpenStax Announce First Open-Source Textbooks – http://tcrn.ch/ytEUYk

AT&T, Google Among The Biggest Online Advertisers — comScore – http://tcrn.ch/A2fKGT

70 Excellent Adobe Illustrator Tutorials – http://bit.ly/yZimmK

50 Illustrator Tutorials To Create High Quality Icons – http://bit.ly/wNiIP1

How to Stop Yourself from Stealing from Your Design Gurus – http://bit.ly/yhUJ8j

(more…)

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Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »

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