As part of some recent consulting work, I spent some time looking at the new people-search engine from Squidoo called SquidWho (it is not Squidoo I was consulting for). SquidWho is an interesting service that may or may not be worth using (in most cases I think not) but there are a lot of things the team is doing very, very well. It’s worth checking out the site’s user experience and use-flow; it’s all quite well put together.

The one thing I haven’t been able to get out of my head in the weeks that have passed since I tried the service out is how easy it was to get started with SquidWho. It’s simple, really – and I was kind of kidding about using the word unforgettable in the title of this post, but I really do keep thinking about it. It’s more like it’s unnoticeable for once!

Easy login is important because there are so many web applications launching every day that yours should be as pleasing to use as possible at every step or you’ll loose out on the use and advocacy of early adopters – at the very least.
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One of my favorite clients that I’ve consulted with in recent weeks is a Massachusetts based company called Softrax. I helped put together a unique and powerful newswire system for their website RevenueRecognition.com. The site’s subtitle is “revenue management resources for today’s financial executive.”

Softrax came to me with almost no experience in using new web applications and by the time our work together was done they had a topical OPML file, a system to easily aggregate industry news on their website and a solid initiation into the web 2.0 experience. This case study is an example of one sort of plan I help clients strategize and implement.
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In case you’re interested in joining us for any of these, I recommend them all highly. Big thanks to organizers for the invites.

New Media for Nonprofits
Meyer Memorial Trust

I’ll be leading a session on “the ROI of blogging.” There will be 3 or 4 other sessions as well, about things like online video and RSS. If you’re in Portland and into npo work, you might like to join us.

Friday, October 19th at PNCA in Portland

Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey
mediasurvey.com

Sam Whitmore does weekly by-subscription teleconferences with media pros (including new media ones, apparently!) and has been one of my heroes for some time. It’s a real honor to be a guest there. Sam’s site is by subscription only (free trials available) but he does have a new, public blog that’s worth subscribing to. If you’re not familiar with Sam, you’ll start noticing his name around some of the best tech podcasts on the web now that you’ve read it here.

Phone call is Tuesday, October 16th at 1:00 PST

Blog World Expo
blogworldexpo.com

I’m speaking a couple of times at the BlogWorldExpo on November 7th through 9th in Las Vegas. It’s going to be a very good conference, judging from the speakers list and the background of organizer Rick Calvert, a long time trade show man who has dove in head first to social media.

November 7th – 9th in Vegas, flights and registration are inexpensive – you should really think about going. See http://blogworldexpo.com

I keep saying that I’m going to write up a particular case study here about one of my favorite recent clients, the Massachusetts-based accountant trainers at Softrax. We worked together on a major project for their site RevenueRecognition.com. I’m just a few days from having something long to post on it, but I did get a nice quote that I can post now. More on the way about the very interesting work we did together. I like to work with people in a wide variety of industries, these are accountants.

Marshall provided us with a very effective and manageable system to bring a wide range of relevant news content onto our site. He did a great job managing the project – it required minimal technical resources and was very cost-effective. Our percentage of returning visitors and our depth of visit metrics have both improved since the implementation.

- Gerry Murray, Director Corporate Communications, Softrax

Thanks Gerry!

I’ve been getting lots of inquiries about my consulting services since leaving my day job to join Read/WriteWeb and do more consulting – but as they say: just because you’ve got work now is no reason to stop lining it up for the future. Drop me a line if you’d like to discuss what we could do together.

My friend Justin Kistner has started a blog carnival of sorts that he’s calling Advanced Operators, all about working with new tools online. He’s had smart people contribute posts on all kinds of topics on their blogs and I thought I’d participate in this round.

The topic this week is “my favorite tools.” Justin has posted a good long list on his site (as well as the snazzy picture here that he designed himself!); I decided to focus on three tools in particular that I’m particularly jazzed about right now.
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I’m excited to announce that my work life is changing; I’ve resigned as Director of Content at SplashCast and joined the team at the excellent web 2.0 industry news blog Read/WriteWeb. I’ll also be putting a new level of time and energy into my consulting practice, something I haven’t been able to give the time it deserves in recent months.
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Ever since I got into this business, I’ve wanted to spread the basic tools at the core of what’s changing the internet to as many people as possible. Today, my consulting services often end up being more substantial than is appropriate for people just starting to engage with new tools online. In those circumstances, I’ve been able to offer blog posts to share what I’ve learned and I often answer questions for people quickly and at no cost.
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