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Services To Watch: Orgoo Integrated Communications Dashboard

There were a number of companies who demonstrated their products and services at the TechCrunch 40 conference last year which I found interesting.  One of which was Orgoo so when TechCrunch offered 500 beta invites today to try the service as they move closer to a full launch, I grabbed one so I can check out how it has evolved from what CEO Michael Kantor demonstrated for me last September.

Orgoo allows you to integrate email and IM services into a single web-based dashboard.  Additionally there are cool features such as the ability to create group chats and video chat all within the same space.

There are some issues to work out.  Notably, in the comment thread on today's TechCrunch post, several expressed concern about providing passwords in order to incorporate accounts when there is no obvious security protection such as switching to a https URL.  One of the co-founders jumped in to explain security features but it needs to be more transparent.  Also, some services such as Yahoo! mail currently can only be incorporated if you are using the pay "plus" version and not the free version.

However, I am looking forward to trying the service out more as I really liked what I saw in the demonstration.  The TechCrunch invites were snapped up in minutes but I have 6 to give.  Please leave a comment and use a valid email address (which does not display, only I see will see it) and I'll send them out.

The Psycographic Approach

Analysts say software companies like NetBooks and ConnectWise play to the diversity of small businesses by avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach.

Michael Speyer of Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., who focuses on information technology issues affecting small businesses, said that many high-tech companies segment potential customers by the number of employees they have, overlooking the concerns of entrepreneurs versus those of corporate managers.

By contrast, NetBooks considers factors like how active the owner is as a manager, how much daily control he or she requires, the owner’s attitude toward using technology and whether a venture capital company has invested money in the business.

“I like the fact that NetBooks has taken a psychographic approach to finding out who their customers are and what they really want,” Mr. Speyer said. “This is really what counts. I think the way they characterize the market is spot-on. Stages of development are really what counts.”

Sonal Gandhi, an analyst with JupiterResearch in New York, said that small businesses were more open to using an application developed by one of their own. “There is certain functionality they crave,” she said.

This New York Times article describes business accounting software developed by small business entrepreneurs for small business entrepreneurs.  It's a classic example of someone solving their own problem and finding out that lots of other folks can use their solution. 

But even if you aren't your own best customer doesn't mean that you can't develop products that start with psychographics of consumers rather than demographics or what your engineers can create.  It can be more difficult, more time consuming and more expensive to take this approach but I believe the potential rewards and long term prospects for your product or service are much, much greater.

Halp! The Internetz Iz In Mah Putter Reading Mah Mindz!*

Today I visited a blog I visit pretty much daily and embedded between the blog post was a little video ad.  Not remarkable in and of itself but it was for Priceline, focused on rental cars and featured William Shatner's "Priceline Negotiator" character working on behalf of a woman (check) seeking a discounted price (check) on a mid-size rental car (check).

 

Here is where it gets freaky.  I performed this very search last night.  And although I did not have Bill Shatner's nor his falcon of truth's assistance, I did visit the Priceline site.  Once these ads can not just follow my browsing history and appear to persuade me in case I had not completed my deal hunting and can predict what I will be searching for and show up on my favorite blogs in advance of my search, well not only will all pretense of personal privacy be completely blown and big brother fully realized, but I might actually then find that having my privacy violated is actually helpful because it means that I am truly shown just the ads I want to see.

*Apologies if I have mangled the lolcat language

Updated: The Future of Media at Fast Forward '07

I had the opportunity last week to participate in the Future of Media session at the Fast Forward '07 conference.  I attended several of the morning sessions on Friday and, although search technology isn't my area of professional expertise, it was quite interesting to learn of the many areas of business and social media that intersect with and rely on search technology. 

Chris Anderson, Editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and author of The Long Tail, gave an interesting keynote with some nicely quantified and visualized examples of results and benefits from pushing demand down the long tail. 

The Future of Media workshop was terrific.  Organized by Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells of Social Media Club, the workshop was organized in a nice "un-conference" format developed by Chris and Kristie.

*UPDATE* Chris Heuer commented to note that the format was actually a: "World Cafe (http://www.theworldcafe.org) session, which was 'developed' by Juanita Brown, David Isaacs and many other gifted contributors since."

The excellent line up of panelists kicked off the workshop with short presentations designed to provide food for thought to the workshop participants.  Then, we were provided with a few questions to discuss around each of the small tables (4-5 people at each) at which we were seated.   After about 1/2 hour of discussion each table shared their conversation.  Chris captured the results in mind mapping software projected to the room.  We then sat down at new tables and answered new questions and again shared our discussions. 

The result was a stimulating conversation about interesting ideas and questions with a bunch of really smart people and I thoroughly enjoyed the session.  I hope this kind of session also takes hold at other business conferences.  Narrower technical discussions have their place but more expansive, less structured sessions that push people to think and move towards the future create enhanced value for attending industry conferences beyond just the networking opportunities that most people show up for.

Speaking of high value, non traditional conferences, readers of Fizz can receive a $100 discount on the full conference registration fee of $699 for BlogHer Business '07.  Enter code BHBAC-DSC where requested on the registration page.  And, be sure to let me know you'll be attending so we can connect.

Listening to Consumers pays off for Petco

Marketing Sherpa reports on a test recently run by Petco to see if incorporating consumer ratings and feedback into emails would boost the effectiveness and results of the emails.  Sure enough it did and the results - a 200% increase in click throughs, for example - were dramatic.  What I love about this story is what VP Ecommerce John Lazarchic said:

Why did the test work so well? “Pet owners, like a lot of consumers, tend to trust each other a lot more than anything your company can say about the products,” Lazarchic explains. “So, it’s great to be able to take their posts and put them in email and leverage them. I think using positive consumer feedback makes sense for almost every channel.”

Soliciting, listening to and trusting the wisdom of consumers is always a smart strategy.  Glad to see it paying off so nicely for both Petco and its consumers.

And, check out Marketing Sherpa which is a terrific resource for articles and reports with quantified results and actionable examples.

Business Blogging Case: Right Idea, Wrong Execution

I am a Contributing Editor at BlogHer, currently writing about Personal Finance.  In this capacity I follow scores of blogs on the topic.  One standout and very popular blog is Boston Gal's Open Wallet.

The author of this blog posted for about a year under the Nom de Blog "Jane Dough"  until she was quoted in a New York Times article.  After the article appeared she received a cease and desist order for trademark infringement and changed her Blog Name to "Boston Gal."  In the stream of supportive comments to her post announcing her name change and the reason prompting it, Boston Gal's readers noted the changes they would have to make to their blogs to fix the many links they had made to her previous name and they also figured out who the company was that served the cease and desist order and expressed their displeasure with the company's tactics.

This week brought some good news, though - Boston Gal is Jane Dough again, sort of.  The company who owns the trademark contacted her and invited her to blog for their site using the Jane Dough name.  Sounds like a win-win, right?  Not so fast.