willie jackson

Month: December 2011

  • The importance of trust

    In marketing: establishing trust is critical if you want to convert strangers into customers and raving fans. So if you pitch a sub-par product as the greatest invention ever created and people are continuously disappointed before the product catches up to the hype, you’re in trouble.

    In relationships: no one wants to feel like they need to sign paperwork (e.g., FrieNDA) before sharing something with you. Using discretion with respect to what’s public information and what’s to be kept secret will save everyone involved a world of pain and embarrassment.

    In web applications: if a user signs up for your application using a new (or rarely used) email address and there’s an influx of spam to that email address in the days that follow, they’ll probably deduce (correctly) that their information has been sold.

    There are of course less malicious mistakes that can be made in web applications, but the ramifications are no less dire.

  • Self publishing success

    An observation: marketers give us a new vocabulary and lens through which to experience the world. Terms like “pick yourself” an “permission slip” echo in my mind when I read articles like this now. (Read this if you’re confused).

    The idea that you no longer need your idea “approved” before bringing it to market (or, in this case, publishing it) is a powerful one, and it removes from us the ability to blame our lack of success on external factors. It’s not that the lack of red tape makes success more likely, it’s that we now stand face to face with the risk required for any endeavor.

    So it’s less about who hasn’t given us permission to pursue our dreams…and more about us being honest (with ourselves first, and then the world) about whether we’re actually willing to put in the emotional labor to see the dream realized.

  • Full stop failure

    One of the best interviews I’ve read in a very long time.

    Check it out.

  • The new barackobama.com

    President Obama’s website was recently updated, and it has design / development communities geeking out. Among the site’s highlights:

    • Modernizr — a Javascript library that allows for browser-specific feature detection
    • HTML5BoilerPlate — a framework for building cutting-edge, future-proof sites
    • Responsive design — content dynamically resized based on screen size
    • Rolling deployments — updates to the site pushed several times per day
    • Mobile-first — designed for mobile browsers first, then the desktop

    I love this quote from the behind the scenes post:

    First and foremost, it’s a tool.

    The site is beautiful without sacrificing utility. Also check out Designing Obama if the branding of the Obama campaign got you drooling in 2008.

  • The Craftsman

    It’s easy to live out a script and maintain a particular (personal and professional) trajectory. What I love about the idea of a true craftsman (a carpenter, web developer, glass blower, or what have you) is that they’ve made a conscious decision to commit to the work.

    They know the work will not always be pleasant or immediately rewarding, but that it will always be important and worth doing. This mindset that exists in the successful craftsman and true artist, I think, is at odds with the cruise-control compliance that exists in many corporate automatons.

    There is an art to solving problems with patience and curiosity that separates the greats from the generalists. This patience allows an artist to turn pro, and share their art with the world in a much more powerful way.

  • A big thank you to JetBlue

    I left my laptop on an airplane last night.

    Once I found the right person (which took about seven minutes, as I hadn’t yet left the airport), I was reconnected with my computer in less than 20 minutes.

    If you know Ken who works for JetBlue in Portland, Oregon…please thank him (again) for me.

  • IncubateNYC

    I moved to the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan on January 1st of this year for The Domino Project.

    In that time, I’ve watched the area grow and flourish—rent prices are increasing, crime is down, popular restaurants and bars draw crowds from all over the city, and construction is a permanent fixture along the main Avenues.

    Many are calling the Second Renaissance.

    As a technology with semi-nocturnal tendencies, one of the disappointing aspects of Harlem is the lack of coworking options. I’m a member of New Work City, but it’s not open on weekends, and represents a bit of a trek from where I live.

    For these (and a host of other) reasons I’m excited to see IncubateNYC.org launch. It’s an effort to revitalize the economy through entrepreneurship, and it was initially birthed as a response to an RFP from the NYC Economic Development Corp.

    The big push is for the next 10 days (until December 15th), when the proposal is due, and your support is appreciated. If the effort resonates with you or you are open to blindly supporting things because you like me (smile), give a look/like/tweet.

    Good luck, guys.

    [RSS/Email peeps: You probably can’t see this video, which is embedded in the post.]

  • Awareness

    An industry awareness helps you plan products and the direction of your business and how you fit into the big picture.

    A market awareness helps you determine what’s needed, what people will buy, and what you should work on.

    An awareness of your team help you determine how to make requests, how to motivate others to action, and what can (and can’t) be done within a certain timeframe.

    Knowledge of yourself ties this all together.

    Your quirks and idiosyncrasies and motivations and habits (good and bad) color the tone of your interactions and deals and the culture fostered within your organization.

    If you’re not aware of how you’re perceived and how your decisions impact others, how can you lead? And if you haven’t taken the time to learn these things, why even bother?

  • Taking some time off

    It’s tempting to slave away around the clock when working towards a significant goal, or to feel like working around the clock is the right thing to do. 10,000 hours, right?

    The trouble is, not everyone’s wired to slave away around the clock without burning out and becoming massively unproductive.

    When I first started freelancing in Atlanta and was taking on web design/development projects, I holed myself up for what felt like weeks at a time in order to take my business seriously.

    It resulted it much Facebooking.

    When I started making time to be away from the computer, engage in actual recreation, and put some structure around my work (no work on weekends or after 6pm, for example), I saw a dramatic and immediate spike in my productivity.

    As a matter of fact, I started to find inspiration and motivation and creativity coming to me when I was nowhere near my office. I started looking forward to my projects (instead of falling into the lazy and ungrateful habit of lamenting the workload…) and attacked them with enthusiasm.

    Sometimes a day at the beach is much better for your business than a day at the office.

  • It’s worth it

    That’s why you’re doing it, correct?

    That’s why you put your name on the line every day for your project and your team, yes?

    That’s why you’re putting the hours into what feels like torture at times, right?

    …because the problems you’re solving are interesting and worth addressing.

    …because the juice is worth the squeeze.

    …because it’s work you must do.

    But certainly not just because this is the trajectory on which you’ve found yourself…

    …right?