SteamboatStuff.com click to zoom

I’ve been hard at work on a new venture that puts a positive twist on an old business. I have a strong belief in doing my part in making our community better. In 2009 I developed WeLoveSteamboat.com which allowed people who love Steamboat Springs to tell their story in an authentic way. I also helped start Ignite Steamboat, a group to connect entrepreneurs forward thinkers and tech junkies.

In 2010 I was the principal architect for the Ride 4 Yellow event which raised over $300,000 to fight cancer.

So in late 2011 I teamed up with David Wittlinger and we developed another project to help our community – SteamboatStuff.com.

As residents of Routt County I believe I have at least 3 things in common with fellow locals:

• We love Steamboat Springs
• We have a garage full of STUFF
• We could stand to have some extra cash in our pocket

Building from these three commonalities as our foundation, Steamboat Stuff was born. When I first started thinking about a new, local classified ads website I decided it needed to be more than just a place to buy and sell things. If this was to be done right it had to have a larger purpose than just ads.

SteamboatStuff.com

If you look at great companies like Tom’s Shoes, Sevenly and Charity Water you’ll notice that each of these brands started by fundamentally approaching business in a different way. These innovators resonated with me. Specifically, the idea that a business could stand for something more than just their financial reportsjust feels like a better way to build a new business.

We began with the idea that this website could serve as both a valuable community resource for users to raise some money for themselves while also benefitting area non-profit organizations.
The driving idea behind this venture is that:

The value of the transaction doesn’t end with the sale. The dollars generated here will go on to improve our community for years to come.

So think Toms Shoes meets Craig’s List and you have the essence of SteamboatStuff.com.

Try it Free

For a limited time you can list an item you’d like to sell for free just by using this promo code at checkout:

PROMO CODE: jaysfriend

So as you explore the site I urge you to think about your own life and the ways you give. Perhaps you too could find one or two items around your house that it might be time to sell.

And when you decide to advertise these things to prospective buyers I hope you consider the impact you can have on local charities by choosing SteamboatStuff.com as your selling partner.

Go ahead visit www.SteamboatStuff.com.

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

Every business must address the question, “Where are we going to invest our limited time, attention & resources?” The online space has huge implications for most businesses so it only makes sense to understand the commitment needed to whatever path is chosen.

For most businesses WordPress is the best choice.

Here are 3 key reasons to support that statement:

WordPress is Open Source

Many business people have no idea what open source is or what the benefits can be. A simple distinction of open source is: Original software source code which is made freely available and may be redistributed with or without modification.

For example Microsoft Windows is not open source – it’s not free and you can’t modify or redistribute it. The Linux operating system on the other hand is open source – it’s free (download it here) and you can make modifications to the code and redistribute it.

While it’s true that some open source software can be extremely technical, user unfriendly & geeky in nature WordPress has gained the reputation of being extremely user-friendly while retaining all the benefits of open source software. Ok, “whatever,” you say, “how does the open source nature of WordPress help make a strong business case?”

WordPress has gained HUGE traction of the past several years in part because of the software design & development approach (among other things) the good people of Automattic (the creators of WordPress) have chosen. WordPress has a culture, following & loyalty that some might say is similar to that of Apple.

This benefits the business owner because unlike software development being done purely for profit, the WordPress community can deliver very, very specific solutions and do so in much less time.

What this means to business is there are literally tens-of-thousands of developers actively contributing to the improvement, security & functionality of WordPress. Interestingly the motivation for many of WordPress developers isn’t financial but rather a love for the software. In many cases they are improving WordPress to scratch their own itch, solve a useful problem or simply show off their programming skills.

This benefits the business owner because unlike software development being done purely for profit, the WordPress community can deliver very, very specific solutions and do so in much less time. The issue with a for-profit software development company is that improvements must be done in such a way that the development, upgrade support, etc, makes economic sense. For most software development companies of any scale, a specific function needed to satisfy just a few hundred users isn’t economically viable.
But for a WordPress developer, who needs functionality to solve a specific problem, he can develop and distribute a plugin that solves the problem at no cost – and maybe that plugin only helps a few hundred people but it does so with no economic risk to the developer.

For a real world example look no further than the ubiquitous Facebook “Like” button available all over the web. While we now take the functionality of this little button for granted, back when Facebook made the announcement of this opportunity, no one knew how it would play out. While many for-profit software development companies took a wait & see attitude, the WordPress community had a working plugin to instantly add the “Like” functionality to a website the day of the announcement – for free.

The traction, developer loyalty and its open source nature makes WordPress of great benefit to businesses in terms of staying relevant and employing specific functionality.

WordPress Delivers the Complete Package

Ease of Use, Functionality, Design
Ease of Use
Ease of Use refers to the relative difficulty to add content, make changes and updates as well as perform routine maintenance and fixes.

In my experience the most frustrating aspect of a website for a business is making updates, changes and adding content. The pain points usually fall into one or more of these categories:

• The CMS has great looking front-end features but is extremely difficult to use.
• The backend looks like it was designed by a 14 year-old command line hacker.
• A third-party is required to make changes & updates.

Click to Zoom

Functionality
This refers to the ability for the CMS to adapt to your specific business needs. For example designers might need strong portfolio capabilities whereas a news organization might need strength in social media and rapid content creation.

Typically a company launches a new site with great fanfare built on a number of business model assumptions. As these assumptions are challenged, proven wrong or insufficient many businesses find themselves trapped with a CMS that can’t provide the functionality needed to satisfy visitors and differentiate them from their competitors.

A well designed user experience can drive greater sales, more revenue and customer engagement than just about any other aspect.

Design
The third critical component, design, is one that far too many businesses don’t prioritize highly enough. A well designed user experience can drive greater sales, more revenue and customer engagement than just about any other aspect. And yet so little attention is paid to the user experience. And while a custom design project can be time-consuming and expensive, the WordPress premium theme market can do much of the heavy design lifting. Because the front-end design is separate from the back-end content businesses can quickly create compelling web experiences.

By leveraging powerful & flexible CSS techniques, a small business can create a design experience that rivals any fortune 500 company for a fraction of the cost. The custom CSS options are literally endless – allowing a business to create an experience that exactly matches their brand.

Design Samples

WordPress as a Platform

The ability for a business to stay relevant, current and useful to customers is absolutely critical because customer attention has never been so difficult to capture. With customers using so many channels for information, a static, siloed website is no longer competitive.

When selecting a web platform, being able to adapt to the ultra-fast-paced online world is a key consideration. The last thing any business wants is to invest significant time, energy & resources into a solution only to find themselves irrelevant a short time later because technology has progressed past the businesses capabilities. We call this collection a “platform” in that it houses a number of functions all on one common infrastructure.

Click to Zoom

Features like social media integration, mobile capabilities, customer support, analytics and newsletter generation are just a few areas that need to be considered to offer an experience that meets customer expectations.

For example, at the time of this writing, less than 2 years ago the iPad was introduced. Now on its 3rd version, the iPad and iOS mobile platform has changed the entire content consumption universe. Content formatted for mobile should be a major part of any company’s online presence. And yet, creating that mobile experience is no easy task. In another example Pintrest.com is becoming a major online social destination. Quickly integrating Pintrest options into a company’s website can create a key marketing & competitive advantage. And yet most proprietary platforms can’t keep pace with the changing online landscape resulting in missed opportunities for businesses locked into their platform.

The “plugin” architecture allows endless possibilities of features & functions to be added to a WordPress platform.

The functionality, extensibility and open-source community make WordPress perhaps the most viable online platform technology for most businesses. The “plugin” architecture allows endless possibilities of features & functions to be added to a WordPress platform. But it’s not just the number of plugins available, it’s the degree to which very, very specific problems can be solved through plugins.

Because WordPress is open source, anyone on the world can create a plugin to provide any type of functionality. This is important because not only does it allow businesses to stay relevant but this functionality allows businesses to create experiences as unique as the business itself. This diagram represents a typical WordPress Online Platform:

Conclusion

Far too many businesses are locked into an online solution that’s no longer effective for them or their customers. Many other businesses may be using WordPress but don’t really know why. Perhaps they were led to WordPress by a suggestion from a business colleague or a reaction to online buzz. Understanding the business case for WordPress is a fundamental distinction most businesses never make. Having been in the online world for 17+ years in a number of roles including development, strategy, start-ups & consulting WordPress is the only platform I’ve encountered that has the flexibility, stability, security and functionality to serve as the center of most businesses online presence.

 
Learn more about how WordPress can enhance your business by hitting me up on Twitter, Google+ or contact me.

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

My HDR photography is ideal for real estate

So during this off-season I’m running a real estate photography sale. Any property photographed for only $499!
But there are only 10 packages available. Package includes:

• Stunning interior HDR photography
• Exterior photos
• Processing
• Delivery

Use Now or Save for Later

The Red Bell Ranch

When you want to use it is up to you. Use it now to capture fall colors or wait until the snow falls for a winter wonderland package. You have until February 14th to use the package.

With a money back guarantee on the photos there’s no risk.

(I’m only doing 10 of these so once they’re gone, they’re gone.)

Learn more about my photography services here or on my Steamboat Photography website www.Steamboatpics.com

Sample Before & After Photos

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

Sorry, cheap videos from Flip cams, iPhones just don’t cut it anymore. Competition and consumer expectations have raised the bar. In a world of infinite coffee choice I pick Intelligentsia.

In a world of infinite choices in your business, why pick you?

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

We decided to promote the events with Ignite style presentation from the members. The Ignite presentation format of 5-minutes, 20 slides, automatically advancing every 15 seconds has produced some truly enlightening presentations. We filmed almost all of the presentations and they’re available to you online: http://ignitesteamboat.com/videos/

The Ignite Steamboat events are completely free.

Growth

2 years ago this thing started with just a handful of people. Now, there’s 142 on the list and we’ve had great participation at the Ignite events. If you’ve been looking for a group that promotes fresh thinking, connects entrepreneurs and interesting people, Ignite Steamboat may be your thing.

Spark Talks

In November we introduced Spark Talks. Spark talks are live video interviews via Skype with thought-leaders and entrepreneurs from around the country.

The hope is that their words ‘spark’ you to start something meaningful. The response from these special guests has been nothing less than enthusiastic and supportive of what this group is about.

If you’ve missed these, they’re available online for you here: www.ignitesteamboat.com/spark-talks/

A Night of Innovation

Next Thursday (April 7th) we have our biggest event yet with 3 incredible Spark Talks Lined up:

• Charlene Li – Author & Social Media Innovator
• Brad Feld – Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist & Founder of Tech Stars
• Chase Jarvis – Professional Photographer, Entrepreneur & Innovator

Charlene Li

Charlene Li

First up is Charlene Li. This woman is amazing and we’re really honored for Charlene to spend some time with the group. If you have any interest in forward thinking business practices, social media or the new rules of leadership, this is for you. 
- Named by Fast Company as one of The Most Influential Women in Technology
- Named by Fast Company as one of The 12 Most Creative Minds of 2008
- “Groundswell” named by Fortune Magazine as one of the 3 best Web books of 2008
- “Groundswell” named by Advertising Age as number 3 of 10 Books You Should Have Read
www.charleneli.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu6iCb6Xhgk

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

Chase Jarvis

Chase Jarvis

Next will be world-famous photographer & entrepreneur Chase Jarvis. This guy has taken the photography industry to a new level and he got his start here in Steamboat! 
What Chase brings to the table is way more than photography.  Sure he’s a phenomenal photographer but his approach opened up what had traditionally been an industry built on secrecy and fear. So even if photography isn’t your thing, Chase has a lot to offer.

There’s no doubt you’ve seen his work for brands like Nike, Pepsi, Volvo, Reebok, Apple, and Red Bull!
www.chasejarvis.com
Chase Photographs New Zealand

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

Brad Feld

Brad Feld

We have Mr. Brad Feld scheduled to speak with us live via Skype. Honestly I wish just typing his name would be enough for you to camp out in front of the Smokehouse to ensure a seat but I realize that some of you may need more convincing. Brad has been the driving force behind the incredible technology & startup growth in Boulder.   


The current book club book, Do More Faster was co-written by Brad. 


Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.
www.feld.com
Brad Feld on Techstars

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

What Are You Waiting For?

This promises to be our biggest Ignite event yet! There’s a cap of 60 max – so the first 60 to RSVP are in. There are a few spots left so please RSVP now if you’d like to go!
 
Act now and save your spot!

Videos & More

I posted several videos of our Spark Talk guests on the site. Go here to check it out: http://ignitesteamboat.com/2011/03/a-night-of-innovation/

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Noreen Moore, Chad James, Jens Owen & John Moyer, all co-organizers, for their persistence, hard work and value they’ve been providing this group.

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

Me & Matt Mulleneweg, Founder of WordPress

If any aspect of your marketing touches the web you should be using WordPress. WordPress is an incredible platform that’s gained tremendous traction over the past few years.
Let’s look at some facts:

• WordPress is the #1 open-source Content Management System in the world
• WordPress.com has more than 30 million accounts.
• Microsoft just closed it’s blogging service and migrated millions of accounts to WordPress.com
• WordPress is free.
• More freelance jobs are being done on WordPress than any other platform.
• Major companies like NTY, eBay, Time, Mashable.com, techCrunch.com and CNN all use WordPress

Interested? I hope so.
The fact is, you can out-distance your competitors, connect with customers and make more money using WordPress.

Ok, maybe you’re still not convinced. I get it – so I present to you 10 ways to use WordPress other than a blog.

1. Start a Q & A Site About Your Industry

Quora.com, StackOverflow.com and other Q&A sites are have become extremely successful. These Q & A sites have a ton of traction in-part because people want answers from real people. Why not start a Q & A site about your industry and let the people who care about your niche help each other out? With WordPress you can. Take a look at this Q & A solution:

Q & A Site

2. Host a News Aggregator About Your Industry

Sites like PopURLS.com and AllTop.com are extremely popular new aggregators. With WordPress you could make a news site full of current info about your industry. This is exactly what I did with www.SteamboatDaily.com

News Aggregator

3. Start a Paid Membership Site

Maybe you have an idea to start a paid membership site. With WordPress it’s a snap especially with a plugin like member.wishlistproducts.com/
WishList Member is a powerful solution for creating an online membership site – all built using WordPress as the core content management system.

Membership Site

4. Host an Auction

Be it a charity fundraiser, corporate or personal event, WordPress can be used to hold an online eBay style auction. These guys have built a fantastic plugin to create a full e-commerce enabled online auction: http://www.wpauctions.com/

Auction Site

5. Project Management

Looking for a low-cost, high quality solution for project management? Well, you guessed it, WordPress. CollabPress is an all in one project and task management plugin for WordPress. Transform a standard WP installation into a full featured project management application in a single click! Easily create unlimited projects, task lists, and tasks with all of the features you would expect.

Unlimited projects, task lists, tasks, and comments
Easily edit/delete projects, task lists, tasks, and comments
Email notifications for new tasks and comments
Task due dates with a calendar view
Uses built-in WordPress user accounts
Activity log tracking all activity
Multisite compatible
100% GPL and Free!
http://collabpress.org/

Project Management

6. Start a Discussion Group

Create a dynamic discussion with P2 for WordPress!
P2 is a theme for WordPress that transforms a mild-mannered blog into a super-blog with features like inline comments on the homepage, a posting form right on the homepage, inline editing of posts and comments, real-time updates so new posts and comments come in without reloading, and much more. Here’s a quick video tour of the best features:

7. Sell Stuff

WP e-Commerce is a free bolt-on shopping cart that lets customers buy your products, services and digital downloads online. They make setting up shop incredibly easy.
http://getshopped.org/

8. Coming Soon

Have an idea that’s not quite ready? There are a number of killer coming soon WordPress apps that allow you to show a countdown timer and collect info from interested people.

Coming Soon Page

9. Launch an Online Community

WordPress has an add-on component called BuddyPress allowing you to create a full-blown online social website.

Community Site

10. Event Registration

Sure there’s plenty of event registration services out there but you can set up your own with Event Espresso. I used an early version of Event Espresso for a conference last year and had great results.

Event Registration

As you can see, WordPress is an incredibly powerful platform and one that every business should be looking into.

Sign Up Already!

Ok, the best thing to do now is sign up for a priority invite. By signing up, you’ll get an invite before the general public and you’ll help me gauge interest & venue size.
What are you waiting for – Sign Up!

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

There’s been a great discussion in the comments of the original post and thanks to all who commented!
While there were some diverse opinions, the general consensus was the ad could be dramatically improved.

Find the 5 Mistakes - Click to Enlarge

It has… forever.

Why This Matters

The ad for the exercise represents two properties with an asking price of nearly $4 million each. In order for these properties to sell, someone is going to have to extract a worth of $4 million in perceived value from the property. They are going to have to be convinced and make an emotional connection that the property is worth $4 million. What makes this extremely challenging is that the pool for buyers at a multi-million dollar price point is extremely shallow and the pool for $4 million homes is extremely deep. Plenty of supply but little demand.

So every step along the sales cycle matters more than ever in the effort to create perceived value.

The Premise

Even though this may be viewed as a tactical exercise after all, it’s just an ad – there are some strategic observations that can be applied across the marketing spectrum.

1. People Don’t Read

They scan. They scan magazine pages, webpages, newspaper pages, twitter feeds, etc. Their eyes dart around the screen or page looking for something interesting. Advertisements are scanned even less.

You’re probably scanning this content right now to see if there’s something interesting — to get the essence of the content.

(Highlighted by the text in block quotes.)

Having conducted a number of eye-tracking and usability studies I’ve seen first-hand how easy it is for people to miss even the most important information.
Creating scannable marketing assets is key. Think “Scan-Ability” in everything you do.

2. No Second Chances

This property is on the market for $3.9 million per side. Less than 3/10 of 1% of the people in the U.S. can afford this property.
Even fewer are in the market to buy a home at any one time and even fewer still would be interested in a home in Steamboat.
Even fewer would actually be here and see this property in a magazine.
So for the perhaps the small handful of qualified, interested, potential buyers per quarter who might see the ad it better be compelling. You’re not getting a second chance. This is why print magazines are so tough for single property-type marketing – the frequency and reach for this target market is very low.

With these two points in mind, here are 5 issues with the ad along with commentary on how this ad can be improved to better connect with a potential buyer.

1. Hotmail

Click to Zoom

Just about every commenter had an issue with the Hotmail e-mail address. So do I. It’s a professional credibility issue. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail e-mail addresses are fine for personal e-mail but a Hotmail or similar account for business is unprofessional. It lacks credibility. For example spammers, scammers and Internet crooks all use Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc. and we’ve developed associations from those experiences. Those negative associations hinder the process of establishing trust in the early stages of a relationship.

For some reason many in real estate continue to use such an email address. I can’t figure out why this is so prevalent in real estate while other professions got the message a long time ago.
A professional company e-mail address is a must.

2. Duplicate Photo

NAR research shows that 84% of buyers consider photos the most important piece of information about the property. In this case a crop photo repeat of the gondola car doesn’t reinforce the value of the property, add context to the narrative or aid in the scan-ability of the ad. In addition the placement of the photo in the center causes an unnatural break in the text. A stunning interior, detail or view photo could have been a great hook to pull a reader in.

We see issues related to photography perhaps more than any other. This is completely at odds with what buyers want to help them extract value and make a decision. Photography is at the heart of marketing because people want passive visuals that help them determine if a marketing message is worth their time. Again, photography speaks to the “scan-ability” of a marketing message.

3. Copy/Information

Click to Zoom

Since we know people initially scan it’s important to present critical marketing information in a way that scannable and easy to understand.

This text is just the opposite.
The treatment of all caps with a mono–spaced font is almost painful to read and impossible to scan.
The main selling and differentiating points of this property should be easy to find, easy to read and easy to understand.

Click to Zoom

Unfortunately this copy gives no indication of price, property scope or even property type. This is a $4 million property and yet the last line reads “a must see for any buyer.”
No it isn’t.

Finally, a grammar error in the third sentence puts the nail in the coffin of this copy.

The trend we see in real estate is to write uninspiring, generalized, one-size-fits-all copy while using the same tired descriptions over and over. Go read a few more descriptions and you’ll quickly become numb to the echo-chamber of:
“amazing views”
“views, views, views”
“Exquisite”
“Views”
“Luxury”

This is completely at odds with the social-media driven cultural shift to authenticity, tone/voice and transparency.
Once someone makes that initial scan and decides they’re interested, copy gives an opportunity to connect. The copy should be meaningful and relevant.

Having conducted a number of eye-tracking and usability studies I’ve seen first hand how easy it is for people to miss even the most important information.

4. Who is in Charge?

Click to Zoom

The ad contains three different entities for contact:

• The developer
• An individual
• A brokerage

From an interested buyer’s perspective this is confusing and adds unnecessary clutter to the ad. This ad can be improved by providing a single clear contact.

Real estate developments typically have a number of “cooks in the kitchen” all wanting exposure and credit for the project. Many brokers even admit they use their listing’s marketing as a primary way to market themselves. But for marketing to be effective all the egos and ulterior motives need to be put aside and the focus put on what’s in the best interest of the potential buyer. Put the buyer’s need for simplicity and clarity first. Don’t make the potential buyer think.

Internet adoption in real estate is still too low and much of what is being created is way behind what’s needed to meet consumer expectations and be competitive.

5. No Online Resource

Click to Zoom

We know that 90% plus of real estate buyers begin their search online. I’d go so far as to say an even higher percentage of second homebuyers begin online.

And yet this ad offers no web address for someone to find more information. For an $8 million property this is a lost opportunity. Even the developer’s domain is without a website.

Internet adoption in real estate is still too low and much of what is being created is way behind what’s needed to meet consumer expectations and be competitive.

In this case, a memorable domain with a simple landing page containing property information and a short contact form would be a good start. It would provide the added benefit of being able to track the ad’s effectiveness. Get on the web or get out of business.

Summary
What’s encouraging to know is that all recommendations are essentially free. More attention to detail and understanding of how a medium can best be used can go a long way to improve marketing results. What are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading!

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

Find the 5 Mistakes - Click to Enlarge

There are at least 5 mistakes in this ad that, if avoided, would make this ad much more effective. Can you find them?

(The fact that it’s print isn’t one of them )

Leave your thoughts in the comments and I’ll follow-up with answers in a few days.

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

So?
If there’s ever been a time to make a jump from where you are or start that new thing it’s now. There’s never been more resources at a lower cost with more potential to make a positive impact than now. Go for it!

Stay on Track
This desktop wallpaper for January 2011 is offered as an inspiration and reminder to just jump! Put this on your screen to keep you in check; are you jumping?
When I took this photo, my buddy Nelson had no idea where or how he was going to land but he ended up fine.
Go for it!

What You Get

This pack contains images for these screen sizes:
1920 x 1200px
1680 x 1050px
1280 x 1024px
iPad Version
Each version has the option to display a calendar

So head over to Steamboatpics.com and grab the file – it’s FREE! And while your at it, sign up for updates using this handy form:

[hr]

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology

1. Michael Jordan on Failure

[hr]

2. Rocky Montage

Classic inspiration set to a different vibe.

[hr]

3. Versus Commercial

Perhaps the greatest sports commercial ever!

[hr]

4. Famous Failures

Who knew?

[hr]

5.Why Do You Do What You Do?

18 minute presentation on the core of what makes leaders successful.

[hr]

6. Gary Vaynerchuk

Probably the pivotal video that launched Gary into the spotlight. 15 minutes of pure passion!

[hr]

7. Human Chain

Nike commercial inspiring you to get back up!

[hr]

8. Steve Jobs Commencement Speech at Stanford

Perhaps the best commencement speech of all time.

[hr]

9. Dennis Crowley, founder of Four Square

Dennis failed a bunch but kept believing in his vision. Now he’s the founder of one of the hottest social media companies. This is his story.

[hr]

10. John Wooden on True Success

A true legend shares his principles.

[hr]

Altera Marketing Group - New Media Marketing & Technology