Podcasting & Apple

Can I tell you how much I like podcasting?!? Yes, I'm a bit late to the game but don't call me a luddite.

You see, I recently acquired a Nano from my mother-in-law (she won it in a raffle) and now finally understand why people are fanatical about Apple products. They're just so damn easy-to-use and not to mention beautifully designed. The last time I used an Apple product was back in my college days at Dartmouth where Apple had a deal with the college and all students used Macs. Once I graduated and entered the business world, however, there was no reason to go Mac.

So what about podcasting ...

Apple's collection of podcasts is very well-merchandised in their music store (by category and top lists) and most importantly, the quality of content is high. I love the fact that they have all types of NPR and NY Times podcasts. It's really opened up consumer access to very niche and specialized content. For example, I can subscribe to a podcast on Tai Chi or even learning Spanish.

Props to Steve Jobs and team for building beautiful hardware, easy-to-use software paired with content that is unique to my interests. While it's unclear that iTunes will own the podcasting space, it's clear they've done a wonderful job of integrating it into the core product.

Ruby on Rails & Benefits to Web Innovation

Being on the business side of the Internet, I think it's important to stay on top of recent technology developments and what developers are using to build the latest and greatest web applications. I'm discovering that a fairly recent programming language called Ruby on Rails is catching on in the coding world.

It's important for a few reasons:

• Shortens development cycles because it's a) easy to read, b) easy to write, and c) extremely iterative (immediate feedback)
• According to devs, the process of writing in Rails allows more expression and is generally more fun to code in

A few examples of sites built on Rails are:

• Basecamp
• Odeo
• 43things

The obvious benefit for us as consumers is the speed at which new web apps and services will be launched and tested ... exciting stuff.

Support your "Local" Artist on Sellaband

A new site, called Sellaband, allows users to support their favorite musical artist (from all over the world) by buying monetary "parts"($10/part) and sharing in ad revenue from the music produced.

What an innovative way to allow new artists to showcase their talents, reach audiences all around the world, and develop a fan base that participates in the artists' success. It's going to be critical for the founders' to get the word out for this thing to scale. The artists need to get on board and the audiences will follow.

As for me, I found this Evanescence-like band from the Netherlands, whose lead singer has great vocals. Check them out on Sellaband: Nemesea.

See this TechCrunch article for other commentary: Sellaband.com.

Long Tail Economics

Big in the press and among the businessrati these days (as in the last year). Just started reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and it's an interesting read so far.

The basic premise is that the aggregate sales of all the niche sales along the tail of the demand curve exceeds those in the head of the curve. And this goes against the traditional practice of focusing on the big hits in the head of the curve (i.e. movie blockbusters, billboard charts leaders).

This new model works particularly well for Internet based companies because the web has essentially created a costless distribution channel - making it very cheap to carry and sell all of the niche inventory. This long tail then becomes economically attractive.

Think Amazon, Real Networks' Rhaspody, Netflix. All those hard-to-find books, tracks, and videos.

Not totally revolutionary but nonetheless useful as one thinks about starting an Internet business and how you plan to serve your customer. Can you take advantage of these long tail economics in your business model?

Here's a link to the original Long Tail article from Wired magazine.

User Generated Content & Incentives

With my recent time off, I've had the time to think and write/blog which has been sort of a guilty pleasure since I'm not really being compensated for my "work" and it's not contributing to what I'd consider productive activities like mowing the lawn or paying my bills.

As such, I've begun to wonder how the recent explosion in user generated content (i.e. high flying startups like MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Digg, Yelp) have given rise to real businesses. Real in the sense that that large corporations are willing to pay large dollars for it. But behind these businesses are the millions of folks pouring their sweat into creating this unique content.

So....

Will the consumer always be a free, willing, and abiding source of content?

Will there be a point in time when the collective force and motivation of individuals to contribute breaks down? When it becomes more difficult to scale ...

A likely response to this is for businesses to create a menu of incentives for individuals to 'play' on their network; this could be monetary (e.g. share in ad revenue) or intangible (e.g. favored/star status amongst users). So far, most of this has come in the form of self-aggrandizement but I suspect the monetary component is not too far off.

Something to think about as these businesses compete for a finite amount of resources, their "workers" time.

Zillow Thoughts, First of Many

A lot of my friends from around the U.S. have asked me what I think about Zillow.com. You've probably heard or read about them in the press. Zillow is the Seattle-based real estate start up that provides consumers with a free valuation on homes. The founders have managed to raise a significant amount of capital, $57 million, in 2 rounds which means there's an expectation that an exciting pipeline of new features and tools are on the horizon.

I personally like Zillow's site. It's got a fun, campy feel to it and the value proposition is pretty compelling. It's going to tell me the value of my home (or my neighbor's or my boss's or Bill Gates' home if you have his address). No strings attached.

I'd say that's a pretty big hook for the consumer. A few thoughts here...

The user/consumer needs to buy into this number. Do I believe it? Does the market believe it and use it? I.E. buyers, sellers, realtors. Zillow will need to fine tune and continue to invest in the Zestimate so that folks start to respect and treat it as a leading market indicator of value. Otherwise, the allure of the Zestimate could fade quickly and it becomes another hokey online tool.

Also for the ad business model to work, there's the issue of getting the consumer to stay on site. A one trick pony a business model don't make.

Right now, once I've looked up my target home, say my buddy Mark's in San Diego, I get my jollies sated and leave. I need something else compelling to click, read, etc.

While the company has done a great job of getting folks to the site (ave. 3-4 million unique visitors/month), what are they going to do to keep them there in the long run?

New content, services. Certainly. More recently, they've aded a financing tab and heat maps of cities around the U.S. to help with this.

I do wonder, though, about the ultimate opiate that will keep folks on-site .... listings?!?

You heard it here first. If Zillow were to somehow infiltrate the world of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), I'd be first in line to put my meager savings down for a round three of financing.

Yelp's Secret Sauce and Local Advertising

I think the guys behind Yelp.com may onto something big. At a basic level, Yelp is a directory of reviews on local restaurants, shops, and other services. We've seen this before on Citysearch, Yahoo Local, and Judy's Book.

However, the difference here is that this site has a strong social networking thread that permeates the user experience. Think MySpace plus Judy's Book. I can create a profile (with pictures and other self-notables) to share my experiences, make my views known, and interact with other reviewers through comments and ratings. As a reviewer, I essentially become an authority/expert and I want to share this with other folks (leading to high value content). Morever, the UI does a good job of facilitating interactions between members. For example, my reviews can be rated as useful, funny, or cool AND users can even leave compliments, like "You're the best!" This keeps the member engaged and for some, they are delighted.

Here's the secret sauce: the output/content on local businesses is for the most part expressive, rich, personal, and valid. It's unique and real. You won't find this type of content on CitySearch or Yahoo Local. With this special content, you have the ability to garner a set of extremely engaged consumers .

Yelp now can sell these eyeballs to local advertisers (i.e. the local businesses the members are writing about). Local advertising has been the holy grail of online advertising but most companies have failed to gain any traction here. The Yelp model could prove to be an extremely effective channel to the small business owner.

In fact, Yelp HAS the goods (the detailed reviews) to pitch to the local dry cleaner or Thai restaurant. All they need now is to build a telesales force if they haven't already or partner with somebody who does.

Today, Yelp is sellling 1) enhanced listing information and 2) sponsored listings. Not surprising.

The key to scaling (getting more comprehensive and deeper) will be to continue to build a base of VERY influential and vocal reviewers in major cities across the U.S.

I will be watching closely to see what programs and incentives they use to grow this content.

I've recently jumped on the bandwagon myself. Check out my Yelp reviews HERE.