Profilactic Mashup - davidfinch

twitter: @WhiskeyChick Just like you did. :-)

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:37:21 GMT

davidfinch: @WhiskeyChick Just like you did. :-)

twitter: @BeckyMcCray How many are you selling?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:36:31 GMT

davidfinch: @BeckyMcCray How many are you selling?

Google Reader: Nico Nico Douga: Monetizing a Community

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Forrester Research (subscription required): How Nico Nico Douga Energizes its Community to Create Appealing Video Experiences:

Japan’s second largest online video portal - Nico Nico Douga - has succeeded in engaging its target audience of young Japanese consumers.

Nico Nico Douga - a homegrown video-sharing community - grew to 7 million registered members between its January 2007 launch and July of 2008.

If you’ve never seen the interface, it’s wild. It’s a complete, anonymous free-for-all: viewers of videos create colorful, witty, comments that appear at selected times, overlayed on top of the video, creating an immersive, cluttered, meta-rich viewing experience for online videos. And since the users’ additions and comments only stay up for days or weeks, the experience is constantly changing. This is not YouTube.

[Nico Nico Douga was originally] an interface for viewing YouTube content rather than a site in its own right. However, after YouTube blocked Nico Nico Douga from showing YouTube content, the owners … relaunched their service two weeks later as a full video sharing community.

Even though user growth was strong, Nico Nico Douga struggled to monetize its service. Instead of succumbing to indirect monetization efforts such as advertising…

Rather than alienating the community by interrupting people’s experience with ads, Nico Nico Douga launched a low-price “premium” membership (500 yes per month), with minimal benefits (e.g. a few high-definition videos and some extra fonts and colors to use on screen).

Even though virtually all content and function is available without upgrading, 200,000 of Nico Nico Douga’s members were motivated to sign up by their desire to ensure the community’s survival. The fees provided 60% of the company’s revenue.

The freemium model can work. I doubt the paying members pay just because they want to keep the community alive: anyone doubt there is a “badging effect”? Give people the opportunity to display their status and they will take it: and they’ll even pay for it if it helps differentiate themselves to their community.

Creators and viewers of videos can place links to Amazon Japan and other retailers under the videos - letting people buy items that are related to the videos Fans of a particular video are often the best judges of whether other fans would appreciate a link to buy figurines that look like the characters in the video or purchase the background music. Users can see how many sales were generated, but Nico Nico Douga keeps the affiliate revenues. The site’s executives say it would destroy the atmosphere of the community if people started to participate with the aim of earning affiliate revenue rather than for the sake of generating and sharing cool content. (emphasis added by me)

Again, incentives guide behavior.

Nico Nico Douga executives “trust their instinct rather than employ methodical research and design processes.” How?

Hiring people who are its target audience.

Having a culture that puts the fan base first.

Relishing popularizing content created by the fan base.

For example, Nico Nico Douga’s target audience are “young slackers”, and they intentionally target employees with “High School of Junior High School” educations, eschewing university graduates. Not exactly normal in Japan. Unsurprisingly, they enjoy and are good at cultivating and supporting an audience that enjoys tweaking mainstream culture.

There are plenty of communities in other web cultures around the world with fantastic user bases: what can we learn from others’ experiences?

When will learn that monetizing eyeballs is not just about advertising?

When will we learn that advertising on social networks doesn’t work?

When will we realize that nobody really likes ads?

When will we learn to monetize intention, not attention?

twitter: Great read from the Harvard Business Review, "A Financial Turnaround Requires Culture Change" http://tinyurl.com/5d4lxw

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:06:09 GMT

davidfinch: Great read from the Harvard Business Review, "A Financial Turnaround Requires Culture Change" http://tinyurl.com/5d4lxw

twitter: Retweet: @robmay - What really matters is how hard you work http://tinyurl.com/6jsvo7

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:32:58 GMT

davidfinch: Retweet: @robmay - What really matters is how hard you work http://tinyurl.com/6jsvo7

twitter: Finally home after SMC Louisville with @jasonfalls and @michellej. #smclouisville

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:06:47 GMT

davidfinch: Finally home after SMC Louisville with @jasonfalls and @michellej. #smclouisville

twitter: @MelissaKing It was nice chatting with you tonight at #SMCLouisville.

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:05:57 GMT

davidfinch: @MelissaKing It was nice chatting with you tonight at #SMCLouisville.

twitter: @FNCrazy Oatmeal or cream-of-wheat.

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:21:11 GMT

davidfinch: @FNCrazy Oatmeal or cream-of-wheat.

twitter: @cspenn By chance then, I'll look forward to possibly hearing it. :-)

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:20:14 GMT

davidfinch: @cspenn By chance then, I'll look forward to possibly hearing it. :-)

twitter: @cspenn Is there any chance your talk will be recorded?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:02:47 GMT

davidfinch: @cspenn Is there any chance your talk will be recorded?

twitter: @RumorGirls good morning!!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:29:23 GMT

davidfinch: @RumorGirls good morning!!

twitter: Retweet: @onreact_com - Quick Guide to StumbleUpon Categorization and Tagging: http://tr.im/170d

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:42:55 GMT

davidfinch: Retweet: @onreact_com - Quick Guide to StumbleUpon Categorization and Tagging: http://tr.im/170d

Plurk: davidfinch Good morning! It's amazing what a little optimism can do to silence all the fear mongers.

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:20:14 GMT

davidfinch Good morning! It's amazing what a little optimism can do to silence all the fear mongers.

twitter: Good morning! It's amazing what a little optimism can do to silence all the fear mongers.

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:20:12 GMT

davidfinch: Good morning! It's amazing what a little optimism can do to silence all the fear mongers.

twitter: The Vine Less Traveled: Wine For Beginners http://ff.im/4aDo

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:05:32 GMT

davidfinch: The Vine Less Traveled: Wine For Beginners http://ff.im/4aDo

twitter: @derbycityespres Congrats on a successful month!!

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:13:13 GMT

davidfinch: @derbycityespres Congrats on a successful month!!

twitter: @beccaheiser Interesting angle that does produce a ROI. :-)

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:32:00 GMT

davidfinch: @beccaheiser Interesting angle that does produce a ROI. :-)

twitter: Did you know that this was the secret to marketing? http://bit.ly/pjHi

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:26:40 GMT

davidfinch: Did you know that this was the secret to marketing? http://bit.ly/pjHi

Google Reader: How to be the Perfect Houseguest

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:56:53 GMT

Image by George Marks

Next week is Thanksgiving and with it comes the arrival of the holiday season. Many of you will be traveling to see family and friends this time of year. Staying with loved ones can be a great time, and everyone loves free lodging. But you must always remember that hospitality is a gift, one that should be accepted graciously. Here’s how to show your gratitude and make your stay a welcome and pleasant one this holiday season, or any time of the year.

1. Send money for groceries. If your host will be paying for your food while you stay, send a check ahead of your visit to cover the cost of groceries and the other incidentals involved in entertaining and hosting you. If you wait to offer dough until you are there, your host will inevitably turn down the offer out of politeness. So just mail a check before your trip with a note about how excited you are to be coming. If your visit will be short, take your host out to dinner and pay for the meal instead.

2. Show up on time. If you tell your host that you’re going to come in on Wednesday morning, show up at that time. If you’re running late, make sure to call ahead and update your host on when you’ll be arriving.

3. Bring a gift. To show your appreciation for the free lodging, bring a gift. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive. Baked goods, flowers, bottles of wine, or unique gifts from your home state are always appreciated.

4. Keep your area neat. Before you leave each day, make sure to make the bed and straighten up your room. Put your dishes in the dishwasher after you use them.

5. Pitch in with the chores around the house. Always be willing to help around the house. Help prepare the meals, wash the dishes, and take out the trash. A gracious host will never directly ask you to help, so just get in there and start lending a hand.

6. Let your presence interfere as little as possible with your friend’s normal routine, household duties, and career. You friend may of course wish to take time out to hang with you, but you should never be the one to impose on their time. Do your best to conform your routine to the routine of the household, as to not get in the way or create an imposition.

7. Disclose your schedule. Let your host know your schedule every day and do all you can to stick to it. This will help your host plan when to serve meals and how late they need to stay up.

8. Do not ignore your friend altogether. If you friend lives in a “destination” city and the purpose of your trip is both to visit with your friend and to see the sights, you should not entirely eschew the former to pursue the latter. No one wants to feel like you are simply using them as a hostel. Do your sightseeing when your friend is at work, plan activities together for when they are not, and invite your host on your excursions.

9. Come with some ideas about what you want to do and see. While your friend will surely have many things they wish to do with you, they should not be expected to entertain you all day long.

10. Even if you don’t find all the activities your host plans for you enjoyable, keep your disappointment to yourself. Part of visiting a friend is accompanying them on excursions that they enjoy. Your friend is working hard to entertain you, let them know you appreciate their efforts.

11. Don’t criticize your host’s hometown. If you are say, a proud New Yorker paying a visit to your country cousin in Omaha, do not go on and on in unfavorably comparing their city to the Big Apple. Most people are proud of their hometown; be generous in your compliments of it.

12. Always ask. Remember, you’re a guest. Even if someone tells you to make yourself at home, still ask before you start using things. It’s just polite.

13. Don’t overstay your visit. Try to keep your stay shorter than three days. Your host has things to do and they can’t put their life on hold forever.

14. Strip the bed before your leave. Your host will likely wash the bed linens after you leave. Help make their job easier by stripping your bed before you depart.

15. Write a thank you note. Showing true hospitality is one of the greatest kindnesses a friend can bestow. Be sure to express your gratitude to them be sending a note of thanks soon after your trip.

Have any more tips on being a good houseguest? Let us know in the comments.

Tomorrow: How to be the perfect host.

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twitter: New from my blog: Your Weekend Reader: Sunday Late Edition http://tinyurl.com/6clkks

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:31:59 GMT

davidfinch: New from my blog: Your Weekend Reader: Sunday Late Edition http://tinyurl.com/6clkks