Here’s your opportunity to get a great domain name - SaucyPans.com. I have decided to sell this domain name, and am using Bido.com, the social domain name auction service.
SaucyPans.com is a fun name for a food-related, cooking and/or culinary Web site targeted to those who seek excitement in cooking. It is a play on the descriptive term “sauce pans” and the term “saucy” brings a touch of fun into it.
There is no reserve for the auction of SaucyPans.com, and the opening bid starts at US$28. The auction will be on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 2:00 pm ET, 1:00 pm CT. You must register with Bido to participate in the auction. Even if you’re just interested in watching it, the Bido site has some unique features.
See you at Bido on January 20, and bid early and often on SaucyPans.com!
The next likemind will be Friday, January 15, 2010 in dozens of cities around the world.
In Chicago, it will be at Argo Tea, 140 S Dearborn St. at the corner of Adams and Dearborn Streets in the Loop from 8:00 am to 10:00 am.
I call likemind a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, social media, et. al. For more information on likemind, you can read this great article on likemind from the New York Times.
The 2009 calendar that hung in my office this year featured 12 different houses from around the world. Who knew when I got it for Christmas last year it would be a metaphor for the year it tracked?
2009 has been an interesting year to say the least. For many people, it outright sucked. For others, it presented challenges many have never encountered or even thought of before. As a result, a lot of thought has gone into what did not happen, what was lost, and what money was not made.
As we pop the cork on whatever beverages we will be consuming tonight, we’ll be not only ringing out 2009 but the first decade of the millennium. Looking beyond 2009 at the other 9 years of the decade, there were certainly many more highs than lows, and those are what I am thinking about over that timeline. And in looking back over the last year, I am thankful for what did happen, what was won and gained and the money I did make. When I think of these things, it makes me smile and fortunate for what I was able to accomplish.
In talking to many people, there is a lot of optimism as we look ahead to 2010. There is a renewed confidence that business will not only pick up, but will thrive in the new year. For small businesses, there are still a lot of things outside of our control. But those things be damned!
Happy New Year to all my friends, family and readers! New Year’s Eve also marks the 3rd anniversary of The Hot Iron. Here’s to year some great conversation in year 4!
A couple of weeks back I mentioned I was evaluating OfficePort Chicago,a co-working environment, to see if it would work for me. While I was here, the people from Crain’s Chicago Business came in to report on OfficePort, and the video report is now available on their Web site as well as embedded below. In it, you can see me in action. hard at work on a client solution.
It’s not everyday that someone says you’re a favorite, especially when that someone is Google.
Yesterday I received a letter from Google’s Local Business Team regarding my Internet consulting firm, Dunkirk Systems, LLC. It stated my Google Local listing is a “Favorite Place of Google” and reinforced this with stats – it was viewed 346 times in the 3rd quarter of 2009. Along with this letter of praise came a window decal stating “We’re a Favorite Place on Google” which features a QR code with a link to the mobile version of my Google Local listing. If you have a QR code reader on your mobile device, click on the accompanying photo to see a larger version of it from which you can scan the QR code and navigate to the link, or view the link to my mobile listing in your Web browser.
Where I haven’t done any poking around to see who else got a similar letter, there is some value in this, and just the opposite. First off, Google Local listings work. I have been seeing the hits coming to the Dunkirk Web site from the Local listing in my Google Analytics reporting. It is also yet another way to drive traffic to you and your business. Google Local also gives the ability for people to rate a business, similar to Yelp, which also provides businesses with window stickers.
For a retail establishment, this is a great program to offer the window stickers. But for a business like mine, it isn’t something I can leverage. First off, my mailing address is different from my office location. And my office isn’t typically where I meet my clients or have walk-in traffic. But Google Local doesn’t know this, nor did they ask.
Legendary US Congressman and House Speaker Tip O’Neil is known for his quote, “all politics is local.” Can the same be said for search? Yes and no, with an emphasis on the word “and.” If you don’t have a Google Local listing for your business, set one up right away. Today, there’s many services offered by Google, at no cost, that businesses and Web sites must use. So it’s quite obvious I use them myself, and do business with Google in many ways. Whatever your opinion of them, keeping up with what is offered by the Internet giant is vital.
This week I am working at OfficePort Chicago. OfficePort is what’s referred to as a co-working environment, where anyone from entrepreneurs to small businesses can call OfficePort their own office.
The folks at OfficePort offered me to try it for a week. I selected a “port” by the windows, and the accompanying photo is of the view from its location at 9 W. Washington Street in the Loop, which faces the CBS2/Morningstar building and has a view of the Christkindl Market at Daley Plaza. For the sake of full disclosure, OfficePort offered me the week to work here at no cost, and did not ask me to write anything about them, but I have been compelled to write this after being here a few days.
How is it? So far, so great! As my home working environment is just me in my windowless room, it is refreshing to have others around me, not to mention a view. I’ll sum up my experiences working at a OfficePort Chicago after the end of the week.
Thanks to the great folks at WOMWorld/Nokia, I will be evaluating the new Nokia E72 device for the next few weeks. It arrived last week, and here is a video I made of my first impressions as I was unboxing it.
I will use it as my primary device, as I have switched my T-Mobile SIM from my Nokia E70 device to this. I am going to give it some time and really try it out, including installing the new Ovi Store and several apps, including Qik, ShoZu, Facebook and a Twitter client. I also plan on reading the instruction manual – seriously.
For the sake of full disclosure, and to avoid fines from the bureaucrats at the FTC, here’s the deal with me evaluating this device. I have been lent the device, and will be sending it back to WOMWorld/Nokia once completed. I am not being paid anything for evaluating this device, and I have not been asked or directed as to what to say. Also, in 2008 I was invited to participate in Nokia’s first OpenLab, and you can read more about it at psurl.com/fuftc.
Watch The Hot Iron for a full report when I am done reviewing it, or if I decide to share something in the interim, like photos or videos or who knows what! I will be sharing thoughts on it on Twitter - follow me @thehotiron.
Here’s your opportunity to get a great domain name - BostonPoint.com. I have decided to sell this domain name, and am using Bido.com, the social domain name auction service.
BostonPoint.com is a great geographic domain name, or commonly referred to as a “geo-domain.” In reference to Boston it can have many uses, and accompanied by the word “point” it can be used for mapping, tourist destinations or any business to highlight.
There is no reserve for the auction of BostonPoint.com, and the opening bud starts at US$28. The auction will be on Wednesday, December 16 at 2:00 pm ET, 1:00 pm CT. You must register with Bido to participate in the auction. Even if you’re just interested in watching it, the Bido site has some unique features.
See you at Bido on December 16, and bid early and often on BostonPoint.com!
This sign came into my line of sight today, and it made me laugh. It also made me think about Web site architecture.
In this photo, which was taken in Chicago’s Millennium Park, you see a sign reading, “Restrooms Closed. Please use restrooms on east side of Park” and is in front of gates on a stairway by the Pritzker Pavilion. What made me chuckle was the assumptions made by whomever decided what would go on this sign, which include:
The person reading it knows where they are
The person reading it knows what direction they are facing
The person reading it knows how to get to the east side
The person reading it knows where on the east side of the park the restrooms are
The person reading it knows English, but I’ll give them a pass on this one for now
What is also in the picture is the entrance to the restrooms on the east side of the park, which is to the far right of the red seats. Though they are so close, they are so far, especially when there usually isn’t anyone to direct you to where you are and where to go.
Similar Assumptions Made Online
Unfortunately assumptions of this sort are not exclusive to the offline world. Many times I find myself on a Web site and I have no idea how to get to where I want to go. I get more frustrated as I design and develop Web sites and I feel I should know how to get there.
This frustration is usually a result of the first assumption above, whomever designed the architecture and/or content of the Web site assumes the Web visitor has some knowledge of the entity or person the Web site is for. It can be as simple as the choice of words used in the navigation which may be unique to those “in the know” or it may mimic the offline structure of the entity.
So what can be done to prevent this? First off, knowing who your target audience is for your Web site is important. If you know who will be clicking around, you can design and develop to meet their expectations. Secondly, having an understanding of what your target audience is looking for will help in the presentation of this information. We always want to say what we want, and people are looking for what they are looking for. Finding the overlap in these expectations is where the magic happens, and makes the Web site successful. Finally, continuous review of the Web site’s analytics will tell you how successful you are doing. Many times designers and developers feel they must make something completely unique in their design. Where this surely shows their talent, true talent comes from creative design with high functionality.
If you go in with no assumptions and simply use hard data, you will be more successful in the end. And you also won’t be needlessly hunting around for a toilet in the Windy City.
To all my friends and family and readers of The Hot Iron in the US and those who celebrate Thanksgiving around the world, may you have a safe and happy holiday, and most importantly - a great turkey! The photo above is of our turkey which, as I write this, is cooking and filling the room with some great smells! As there are plenty of photos out there of cooked turkeys, why not show what the bird looks like before?
The Hot Iron strives to present unique content and perspective on business, technology and other topics by Mike Maddaloni, founder and president of Dunkirk Systems, LLC, an Internet consulting firm based in Chicago.
Here’s your opportunity to get a great domain name - SaucyPans.com. I have decided to sell this domain name, and am using Bido.com, the social domain name auction service.
