Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

SMCpros: Building a Business Around Social Media

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smcprosWhile we recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the largest network in the world, where does the dawn of “social media” place the web on a maturation curve?

As a thought experiment, let’s suppose the web submitted to the infamous real age test and it was discovered to be considerably younger than its calendar age suggests.  If human beings are susceptible to the chronological age vs.biological age disparity, then could this amalgamated derivative of human scientific endeavor known as the “world wide web” also be subject to the same intrinsic characteristics as it’s creators?

40 years later, the question remains: where are we?

From the imaginative minds of its visionary founders, through research labs, defense departments, corporate intranets, onto our desks and into our pockets, the web continues it’s unofficial mission to connect the world in one unified (albeit virtual) realm.  It is through this networked (re)evolution, the 21st century web has reached a distinct developmental stage: adolescence.

Nebulous in definition and unable to identify its real purpose, it suffers from innumerable identity crisis and it can barely recognize the face in the mirror.  Despite being bruised & beaten the commercial web still exhibits naive, irrational, and overconfident behavior of its youth.  Although the modern web is as curious as ever – eager to grow up, to be more, and to interact with the world around it – it remains socially shy and awkward.

In the face of its immaturity, adolescence exists for a reason; left to its own devices and void manipulation, it’s a formative juncture inherently designed to transition a complex system from a primitive stage to a more adaptable and sustainable one.  Behavioral psychologists can identify adolescence as a temporary, healthy, and essential aspect of growth & development.

Enter “social media”: part and parcel to surviving this adolescent phase of the web and diligently reaching the next level of networked interconnectedness. …  [Read More…]

Minutebids: Get Free Bids on Commercial Property Services

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minutebidsDo you own commercial real-estate or manage commercial property? Probably not – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be paying attention to local Minnesota web startup Minutebids.com and the brains behind it:  Jon Coudron, Jeremy Raadt, Jerad Parish, and Seth Heiserman.

Minutebids is a free service for property owners/managers that saves them time by streamlining the process of obtaining multiple bids from reputable local service providers for property maintenance needs. Think lawn-care, snow removal, parking lot maintenance, landscaping, etc.

Of course there already are established players in this space, notably ServiceMagic.com (turn your speakers down) & ServiceLive.com – owned by IAC & Sears holding corp, respectively.  Yet Minutebids has some unique competitive advantages that, when added together, make it a compelling alternative:

  • A focus on commercial property: neither service is clearly targeting commercial property owners/managers.
  • Pay for performance model vs. pay per lead model: service providers only pay for bona-fide, actionable, and closed leads – contrary to the pricing model of the other two.
  • Service wizard with Microsoft Virtual Earth integration through the Bing Map API: This allows RFP’s to be uploaded/submitted painlessly and for service providers to bid projects online, in real time, without having to do a site visit/walk through. The competition doesn’t even come close to this feature.
  • Option to combine multiple properties and service types into one request: This saves the owner/manager time and increases the likely- hood for volume discounts. Again, unique to minutebids.

Minutebids has gone from concept, through R&D, to their recent beta launch (mid July) in less than six months and they’ve clearly established themselves as “better than the rest”. Their next step is to work directly with local service providers and property owners/managers to iron out any kinks, listen & lean from said users, and otherwise evolve as they prepare for their nation-wide roll-out campaign.

Time is of the essence as Minutebids must close-in on the incumbents before they discover the Minutebids difference for themselves, and thus potentially implement the very same feature-sets and technologies that minutebids is using to differentiate itself.  This is a common challenge faced by any startup that’s not first to market, and  in this case, I’d place my bets on the startup side with consideration to drive and agility.  Plus: how do you re-engineer your pricing model in the middle of the game if you’re ServiceMagic or ServiceLive? Remember, the primary differentiating factor is the Minutebids pay for performance approach to lead generation–a fundamental difference.

According to co-founder Jon Coudron, the market for commercial RE services is at-least a $40 billion/year industry and he’s not shy about his ambitions:

“We want to dominate this market segment and want to talk if you think you can help us”

Extendr: Your Web. One Place.

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extendr

If I googled you – what would I find, how fast would I find it, and what initial impression would I form?

Personal branding is in and the premise is simple: people search for other people online and extendr.com makes it easier to be found online while enabling one to retain control over their own unique digital introduction destiny.

Call it a launch pad, virtual porch, or online hub. It’s all the same if you can take your digital breadcrumbs (social links, contact info, portfolio, CV, favorites, etc.) and aggregate them into one customizable & search engine friendly source.  It’s simple, free, and it works especially well for those too illiterate and/or cheap for a professional personal website and too busy to consistently maintain a functional blog.

The tour feature allows for someone to visit your extendr page and browse the various links/websites that you have included, all within the extendr frame.  This offers two distinct benefits: (1) ensuring that whoever is seeking can find everything (and then some) under one roof, and (2) less time spent back and forth jumping from site to site.

Isn’t it pleasurable when you can efficiently locate and access what it is your looking for online? Consider extendr a great personal marketing tool, as we (as searchers) are forming unforgiving subconscious first impressions and subsequent judgments based on how accessible people are choosing to make themselves online-or rather-not.  For example, if you’ve taken the upfront time to make it easy for me to find you online then it tells me that you respect my time.  This would likely lead to a favorable first impression as opposed to having to sift through pages of SERPs.

Go to extendr.com now and get running in a few minutes.  What’s that? You already have a personal website/blog?  Already profiled in google? Fair enough… but isn’t it better to cast one’s personal branding net as far and wide as possible given the option?

Can Social Media ‘Save The Strib’?

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Save The Strib logoA group of Star-Tribune employees have launched a new campaign aimed at engaging the community to come up with new ways to save the bankrupt newspaper. What I find most innovative with the ‘Save The Strib’ effort is the use of social media to spread the word via their blog, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This is exactly what the Strib needs to embrace in order to survive.

Last month I posted a 5-point plan to revitalize the Strib on my personal blog. Running through my logic was a focus on embracing electronic distribution and reducing the costs of publishing on paper. But I didn’t address what I now think is the central issue that Star-Tribune management will have get right to assure the viability of the paper:

Improve Local Content.

The Strib can transform themselves into the digital age, embrace blog software and social networking but it will all be a wasted effort unless they are delivering the best quality content relevant to the communities they serve. This means hyper-local coverage, more investigative reporting and local perspectives on regional and national issues. What we have seen happen in many newspapers across the county is the downsizing of the newsroom and increased use of wire stories. This is a death spiral in the age of Google News which does the sorting of these same wire stories in real time and for free. But setting up a local blog network that aggregates into a regional news portal that feeds both electronic and print editions just might be the answer here.

The journalists and the Minnesota Newspaper Guild who have started the ‘Save The Strib’ campaign have a huge challenge ahead but their proactive use of social media just might make a difference. This approach has a good chance of engaging and motivating the community to generate ideas that will save the paper. The following video features readers more than well known citizens which is very encouraging. And those readers almost universally talk about content.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP3_y15ti8g

Cost cutting will only be a part of the solution to the Star-Tribune’s troubles. Improving local content and embracing digital distribution will prove to be the deciding factors.

CloudCamp Minneapolis Set for April 18

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CloudCamp Minneapolis bannerA CloudCamp unconference will be held at the University of Minnesota on April 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a Happy Hour after the event. CloudCamp is focused on cloud computing technologies and is an opportunity for companies, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts to share ideas and to network. A tentative agenda for the unconference has been posted.

The event is free but space is limited so sign up at Eventbrite.

We will be covering the event here on Minnov8, as well.

Minnov8 Gang Podcast – Episode 24

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m8-minnedemo

No gang podcast this week, but several interviews recorded with attendees of Minnedemo last night. Graeme Thickins talks with several attendees as best he can in an incredibly crowded venue with a lot of socializing going on!

Hosts: Tim Elliott and Graeme Thickins.

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:20 — 11.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

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UnSummit Set To Return March 7

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unsummit logoUnSummit, the spontaneous tech marketing unconference spawned as an alternative to the sold-out MIMA Summit last October has set the date for their next event as Saturday, March 7, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Minneapolis Central Library.

The agenda is still coming together based upon attendee input but the theme of “Hacking the Recession” sounds timely and a good way to frame social media marketing in these challenging economic times.

If you are unfamiliar with UnSummit, you can check out our coverage here and on our podcast or visit the UnSummit blog. A sign-up list for attendees is on the UnSummit wiki. Without the overlap with the MIMA Summit, it looks to be a much larger event this time. Hope to see you there…

Marketing Innovation: Best Buy vs. Target

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bbclogoTwo of the most difficult marketing jobs in Minnesota right now has to be leading local retail giants Target and Best Buy. Although of different scales, Target is about 60% larger than Best Buy, each is facing the same catastrophic pullback in consumer spending that has resulted in each company reporting some of their worst results in years. How each deals with the gloomy outlook in 2009 will be interesting to watch and I expect to see some innovation in their marketing strategies that will help them ride out this tough economy.

As we’ve written here before, Best Buy is one of the leaders in the adoption of social media in the retail industry. Their CMO, Barry Judge, has started blogging and has taken to Twitter. He’s very transparent in his exploration of conversational marketing in interviews like this one. But probably the best overview is a video we posted here last month that features an interview with Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson who clearly is behind their use of social tools and techniques.

Target, in contrast, is opaque on all things social and their CMO, Michael Francis, seems from the corporate model of a brilliant planner, not innovator. Although they have been involved in conversational marketing — I recall meeting blogger Robert Scoble some 3 years ago after a day of meetings at Target — their efforts to date have been mixed. A well planned Facebook campaign was marred by controversy. And there was that episode with bloggers who took issue with a billboard in New York. Not the kind of case studies you would want from a company who clearly is a leading force in retail brand advertising.

So I will be tracking each company and their marketing efforts over the next several months and posting highlights here. If past is prologue, my gut tells me we’ll be seeing a lot of innovation from Best Buy, particularly in their use of social media. But the folks at Target might also surprise us. In these difficult times, the most innovative will likely win.

MinneDemo Showcases MN Innovation

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Ben Edwards & Luke Francl, Minnedemo hosts and organizers

Nearly 300 people attended MinneDemo last Wednesday held in Uptown’s Intermedia Arts which was the best venue in the series of “unconference” demo showcases. Ten Minnesota tech companies presented their products in 7 minute demos to a packed auditorium coordinated by MinneDemo co-founder Luke Francl.  After a brief introduction by Luke and MinneDemo co-organizer Ben Edwards, the demos began without the use of Powerpoint or any other presentation software.

The event got off to a fast start with Reactor, the first product from Rochester-based Hardcore Computer. An imposing beast of a computer at over 125 pounds, this is billed as the first personal supercomputer. Aside from being a wicked fast machine tuned for gaming, the first thing you notice is that the entire motherboard is encased in oil to cool the processor and other components. This fluid is highlighted with a blue light that makes a stunning first impression. After the demos were complete we were able to see Reactor put through it’s paces with a racing game which was most impressive. But it was clear from speaking with executives at the event that they have plans to target other processor intensive applications outside the gaming world such as architecture, video rendering and government applications….  [Read More…]

ecoEnvelopes: Low Tech Meets Green Tech

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ecoEnvelopes logoOne of the mega trends of 2008 is green tech and I will be following this environmental issue here from a Minnesota perspective.

One interesting take on green tech is from Stillwater-based startup ecoEnvelopes that hopes to bring a green touch to the well established envelope business. Literally my first job out of college was selling custom printed envelopes so I am well acquainted with the “tech” of envelope manufacturing (at least circa 1982). And ecoEnvelopes’ novel twist on the old “reuse, recycle” axiom makes this a Minnesota startup to watch.

After closing a round of financing with TC Angels late last month, founder & CEO Ann DeLaVergne looks to staff up and bring her innovative envelopes to market. The idea is to make each envelope easy to use two ways, eliminating the return envelope and reducing the amount of paper required for mailing.

As environmentally sound products become more mainstream, socially responsible choices in many product categories will emerge. And as electronic as many of our lives have become, we still receive a lot of paper mail so ecoEnvelopes makes sense to me. Visit their FAQ for more details.