Archives for March 2011

Making Time for Conversation

My friend and business partner Troy wrote a great piece yesterday about whether or not technology has improved or hindered our communication skills. It’s a timely topic with some awesome comments, and well worth the read.

It reminded me of something that happened a couple of years ago, that was a perfect example of the point Troy makes.

My wife had taken me to Niagara Falls for my 40th birthday, and it was truly amazing, awe-inspiring, majestic ? all these words and more that I would have thought were being over-expressive had I not seen the Falls for myself. So yeah, the Falls were simply amazing.

While we were there, we had some time to kill on the last day before catching our train, and so we did a bit of walking. After 2-3 hours, we thought it?d be nice to relax and have a break. So we found a food court with a bunch of empty tables and sat down. This is where I found myself wondering how we really are as communicators and conversationalists.

While my wife was at the ladies room, this elderly lady came in and bought herself an ice cream. She looked as if she may be about 70-80 years old, and she was by herself. She had a wedding ring on her wedding finger, yet as I say she was alone. And that got me thinking.

Was she alone because her husband was simply at home having a restful day? Or was she alone because her husband had already passed away, and she was simply whiling away her time? If that was the case, did she have any family? Did she have any friends that she could spend time with? And if so, why weren?t any of them with her now?

This led to another train of thought ? perhaps she had no-one to turn to. Perhaps she was at that age where all her friends had either passed away as time caught them up, or were infirm and in an old people?s home. This thought saddened me.

Friendly or “Friends”?

Every day, I talk to strangers that I?ve never met via the likes of Twitter, or Facebook, or via comment boxes on blogs. I discuss everything and anything with people on the other side of the world, and don?t think twice about starting a conversation with them, because I see them as “friends”.

Yet I couldn?t strike up a conversation with a lonely-looking old lady who may have really appreciated the company.

Have we really come so far as to only communicate via technology now? Has the art of real conversation died, or is it still there? Do we need the facade of technology to allow us to open up to people?

I couldn?t help but think of that lady on the way home, and of the missed opportunity to offer some company for even just a short while. I?m sure it would have been easy enough for my wife and I to ask if anyone was sitting beside her and strike up a conversation ? but we didn?t. And I feel bad about that.

So here?s?the thing. The next time I?m in a similar situation, I?m going to strike up that conversation. I?d rather be gently refused than to not speak at all. After all, it?s easy enough on Twitter ? surely real life should be the same?

image: JKonig

Why We Don’t Charge for Blog Topics

Over at For Bloggers By Bloggers, we offer free weekly blog topics every Saturday. A collection of various ideas, titles and niches, it’s to help bloggers get inspiration when they hit the blog topics wall.

As bloggers, we know how difficult it can be to come up with just the right idea sometimes. It could just be that your mind is a little empty on a given day, or you’re not quite sure how to make the next post seem a little bit different from your previous one.

So, the blog topics section was set up just for these times. So far, we’ve provided 30 specific ideas and topics for you to run with, although we’ve deliberately set it up so you can take the ideas we provide and use them regardless of the niche your blog covers.

It’s been really well-received, and we’ve started to see some of the blogs coming back that have taken our topics and run with them. So, great to see that the service is helpful.

One of the funny things, if you like, that has come about is the question why we don’t charge for our blog topics. There are other bloggers that are offering a similar service, but charging around ten bucks a month for it. So why don’t we charge as well, and are our blog topics less useful because they’re not being charged for?

Ideas Are Everywhere

The simple response to why our blog topics are free is that ideas are everywhere. I know I’ve gotten an idea for a blog post just walking down the street and seeing how a couple interacts. Or how a business responds to a query. Or how a child can teach us about blogging.

Additionally, ask any blogger where some of their post ideas have come from and they’ll probably reply, “From my comments.” See, the great thing about blogs is that they’re two-way. You write the post and start a conversation, but the comments are the gold where even more ideas can be born, including follow-up posts and new blog topics altogether.

So if bloggers get a lot of ideas from their community, then – in a sense – the blogger should be paying their commenters for their ideas, no? Same goes for other bloggers – if you write a blog post and I’m inspired to write my own based on that, you gave me the idea. So, should I pay you for that?

So, yeah, ideas are everywhere.

Ideas Aren’t Always Premium

Riffing on the above, most people pay for a product or service because it offers a premium advantage to something you can get for free. It’s the reason business and customers exist. For me, ideas aren’t premium.

As I mention above, ideas are everywhere – all you need do is look. But if you’re not sure where to look, then that’s where something like our blog topics come into play. But premium?

If we were to offer you steps and strategies on what to do with these topics, then that has the potential to become a premium service. For example, if we were to share how you can then promote these topics ; how it can be used to drive sales leads your way; or how you can measure how successful your post was and how many new readers you got – and kept – then that becomes a premium service.

Ideas are definitely useful, but it’s the strategies that drive the ideas where the real value (usually) lies.

Premium versus Free

Does this mean you shouldn’t pay for blog topics? That’s up to you. Like anything, you gauge the value from what’s free and what’s premium, and how much of a difference there is between the two.

Does the fact that something’s premium mean it’s better? Maybe, maybe not. Although I’m obviously biased, I think getting 10 free blog topics every week from a team of multiple award-winning bloggers offers great value. Again, though, it’s in the eye of the beholder, and the value received.

There’s definitely a need for premium blog services, and we’ll be offering some soon with the likes of blog auditing, blog mastermind classes and more launching soon. But sometimes there’s also a need just for straightforward help for bloggers who’ve helped you get to where you are, or want to be.

Making that help free is just a nice way to say thanks. It’s also another reason why our blog topics are free – it’s our way of saying thanks for your support.

Cheers!

image: jangelo

Is CheckPoints Showing the Way Forward for Location Based Services?

Despite there being 6.5 million users on Foursquare and almost a million users on Gowalla, location based services still haven’t enjoyed the uptake of other social network sites.

Most reasons cite the lack of innovation from marketing companies and businesses using these services, saying there aren’t any real incentives to check into locations just to receive bland rewards.

Although Facebook has entered the fray with Facebook Places, there’s still a lot of confusion about the benefits of location based services for both users and businesses trying to attract these users.

This has led to the apathy that’s starting to hang around the likes of Foursquare, Gowalla and more.

It’s this apathy and feeling of blandness that CheckPoints is trying to shake up with their approach.

Shopping Rewards and Points Systems

Built by a family-owned enterprise in Venice, California, CheckPoints tries to counter the boring Mayor rewards that many businesses use on Foursquare, and offer more relevant rewards based on the user’s preferences.

The way CheckPoints works is simple:

Download the CheckPoints app.
Go shopping at your favourite mall.
Use CheckPoints to see if there are any promotions in the area.
Use your phone to scan the barcode of a product.
Scanning gives you points, which you can redeem for gift certificates, electronics, air miles and more.

Companies taking part in the CheckPoints rewards program include Amazon, GameStop, iTunes, Nieman Marcus, Bose, Louis Vuitton and more.

You can also redeem your points for good, with KIVA, AID Haiti, Research Breast Cancer and other non-profit organizations benefiting from your shopping and scanning habits.

Building the Loyalty Mindset

It’s this approach that puts CheckPoints a little bit ahead of the game when comparing it to the likes of Foursquare, Gowalla and other similar services.

By offering you the choice on where you redeem the points you’ve accrued, and on what, CheckPoints is taking the same approach as loyalty card programs. This is one of the biggest (yet underused) markets for many businesses – after all, who doesn’t want loyal customers?

Additionally, tying in the non-profit angle is genius. People want to give and help; it’s in our nature. The problem is, we don’t always do so because we’re not sure how to. CheckPoints makes it easy to support charity while doing what we normally do, so it’s a win-win all round.

So CheckPoints seems the natural progression for location based services, right? Yes and no.

What Benefit to the Retailers?

I had a look around the CheckPoints site, and I couldn’t see anything that said you need to make a purchase to get points added to your account.

So where’s the benefit for the retailer? Yes, they’re getting extra foot traffic through their doors. But if I don’t need to buy anything, and just scan a product for my points to be added, then what does the retailer get out of it? There’s no sale, so no profit.

Additionally, the service is only available in the U.S. at the minute, so users in Canada, Germany and the U.K miss out (these are countries where those types of services have the most uptake). And then there’s Japan, where location based services are huge – so a big market being missed (for now).

Also, I’d like CheckPoints to recognize my scanning habits, and react accordingly – just show me relevant offers as opposed to all offers (something we’re working on at Bonsai with a couple of apps that are in beta at the minute). Making it relevant makes it useful – otherwise it’s just another mobile app.

CheckPoints definitely has a lot going for it, and I really like the way you choose your rewards, as opposed to being told you get a free coffee for being Mayor of Beanville.

If they can address the profit benefit to retailers, as well as really amp up the relevance – and grab that global audience – then it might just be the next logical step for location based services.

And for many mobile location users, that can’t come soon enough…

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