Headstand Media

Nightstand 6 will take place on Thursday, May 29, 2006 with food and drink available from 6 PM-7 PM, followed by introductions and then our featured presentation.

Email Marketing with Constant Contact

This month our guest presenter will be Steve Robinson, Regional Development Director for Constant Contact. Constant Contact is an effective, affordable and easy to use online email marketing tool designed to enhance a businesses image and its communication with customers and prospects.

Steve relies on his 18 years of experience in business development, sales, and fund-raising to help businesses, nonprofits, and associations learn how to build lasting relationships through permission-based email marketing.

We will learn more about how email marketing with Constant Contact can help a business to grow. Steve will address how to create professional looking emails with Constant Contact’s permission-based email marketing program.

Topics covered during this overview of email marketing include:

• What is permission-based email marketing?
• List building and segmenting lists
• Setting objectives and determining formats
• Tips on tracking results are included as well!!

There will be time for Q & A and interaction with Steve following his presentation. We typically end by 8:30 PM, but attendees are free to come and go as needed.

We look forward to seeing you at Nightstand 6!

Please RSVP!

Confirmed Attenders:
Steve Tanner - Kidology

A group of Nightstand regulars met on April 24, 2008 for general networking, discussion and brainstorming on topics related to Web 2.0, web technology, business, online communities, social networking and many other topics. We enjoyed our discussion around Giordano’s pizza, soda drinks and other goodies.

Each attendee was given time to introduce themselves, and to describe their particular job and organization. Their website was projected and showcased for everyone to view, and some organic discussion ensued around each site. Many great questions were asked with everyone participating by contributing their perspectives or suggestions.

We also spent a fair amount of time discussing and brainstorming other topics to be covered in future Nightstand events. These topics include:

• Web 2.0 Features
• Web 2.0 - What Is It?
• How to Market with Web 2.0
• Content Management System Options - WordPress Demo
• Pimp Your CMS - How to customize and personalize a CMS website
• Web Databases: What are they and how do they work?
• API’s: What are they and how do they work?
• Social Networking platforms compared and contrasted
• Flash Basics

Randy talked about a few special guest Nightstand events he is working on. We will have a guest from Constant Contact in May to talk about their email platform and services. He is working on getting a guest speaker from McDonald’s, and a group from an agency in Holland, Michigan.

A few other topic ideas included:

• Web Graphics Basics: formats, tools, how to
• Alternative revenue strategies for non-profits
• How to make $ with websites: affiliate marketing and other revenue models
• How to market and promote yourself on the web
• The web and the “long tail”

Even after the event was “over” several more discussions in smaller groups evolved around specific challenges that attendees were facing in their organizations. These included Web 2.0 feature integration and related database integration and migration.

Click on the Flickr badge to the right to view more pictures from Nightstand 5. If you have other topics you would like to discuss at an upcoming Nightstand event, please leave suggestions as comments.

Headstand Media is pleased to announce Nightstand 5 scheduled for April 24th, from 6 to 8:30 PM. We’ll serve drinks and food at 6 PM while guests arrive and to facilitate informal networking. We’ll have short introductions right around 7 PM, then go into our featured discussion.

Build Your Own Nightstand

Sometimes it is just good to sit and talk with friends about ideas, trends, developments and experiences related to our lives with: emerging technology, Web 2.0, online communities and social networking, new media and communication in our changing world.

Headstand Media will guide us in an open-ended discussion and conversation on new things we’ve seen, questions that have come up, experiences we’d like to share, developments on the horizon - encouraging all of our guests to participate and contribute.

So, we invite you to bring along your ideas, thoughts, experiences, issues, questions or news to contribute. We’ve got plenty of white-board space, and a laptop and projector to view websites or resources online that will help our discussion.

We have a speaker and topic lined up for May, but we’ll also spend some time brainstorming on future topics and presentation resources that you’d like to see covered in the months ahead.

We encourage you to invite friends and associates who may be interested in this topic. We only ask that you RSVP!

We’d love to see you there!

Confirmed Attendees:
Randal Birkey - Headstand Media
Benjamin Nelson - Headstand Media
Kyle Williams - Headstand Media
Steve Tanner - Kidology
Scott Ruth - Breakthrough Urban Ministries
Chris Arndt - Moody Bible Institute
Richard Ellison - Cultivest
Branden Stuck - Kidology, Sony
Kent Thompson
Tim Schwaar

Invite a Friend!

Hello to all our Nightstand friends. Due to vacation and travel schedules this month, we are not hosting a Nightstand event on March 27th, as would normally have occurred. Instead, we are planning to host Nightstand 5 on April 24, 2008. We will be sending an email to our Nightstand invitation list prior to that date in April, with information on the topic and featured presenter. We will also post that information here for all of you who have subscribed to our RSS feed.

Have a great Easter holiday and spring break, and we’ll see you in April!

Randy, Benjamin and Kyle.

Last night Headstand Media hosted Nightstand 4. Thank you to all who came out and participated in our discussion on online communities. We had a great time of networking, discussion and learning.

Steve Tanner, Director of Web Operations for Kidology.org, was the guest presenter for Nightstand 4. Steve’s presentation was entitled: The Changing Face of Online Communities. View the summary of his presentation below, as well as the full PPT version of the presentation ready for download.

Summary: Our conversation explored the shift from place-centric communities (message boards, chat rooms) to people-centric communities (blogs, social networks, buddy lists, mobile phone), and what that means for today’s online projects, from commercial to non-profit. We looked at the underlying principles that apply to all online communities, independent of type, technology, and purpose.

Talking points on Online Community

• What is an online community?
• Why do people participate in online communities?
• Trends: Place-centric vs. People-centric
• So what? Why should I care about online community?
• 10 Guidelines to ponder before jumping into online community

The Changing Face of Online Communities (PPT 3 MB)

Thanks again to all who attended. Please leave comments, questions and suggestions off of this post. Feel free to pass our Headstand blog and Nightstand information to anyone else in your network who you feel would enjoy and profit from coming to a future Nightstand event.

Subscribe to the Nightstand RSS feed:

Headstand Media is pleased to announce our 4th Nightstand event scheduled for February 28th, from 6 to 8:30 PM. We’ll serve drinks and food at 6 PM while guests arrive and to facilitate informal networking. We’ll have everyone introduce themselves right around 7 PM, then go into our featured presentation.

The Changing Face of Online Communities

Our conversation will explore the shift from place-centric communities (message boards, chat rooms) to people-centric communities (blogs, social networks, buddy lists, mobile phone), and what that means for today’s online projects, from commercial to non-profit. We’ll also take a look at the underlying principles that apply to all online communities, independent of type, technology, and purpose.

Steve Tanner has been professionally managing online communities since 1998, working with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profit organizations. With a background in mass communications, including journalism and broadcasting, along with technical computer science proficiency, he’s nurtured a diverse group of community-building situations to bring relationships and technology together.

For the past 4 years, Steve has served as the Director of Web Operations for Kidology.org, a non-profit, community-driven resource for those who work in children’s ministry. Prior to that, he worked professionally in the fields of online community management, marketing, and copywriting. On the side, he’s an avid blogger and beverage enthusiast.

We encourage you to invite friends and associates who may be interested in this topic. We only require that you RSVP!

We’d love to see you there!

Confirmed Attendees:
Randal Birkey - Headstand Media
Benjamin Nelson - Headstand Media
Kyle Williams - Headstand Media
Steve Tanner - Kidology
Branden Stuck - Kidology/Sony
Derek Taylor - Taylor Design Studio
Kent Thompson
Dan Cummings - ShopLocal
Eric Vorhes - Textivism
Donny Williams - TLN
Becky Williams - DePaul University
Bunmi Onibokun
Scott Ruth - Breakthrough Urban Ministries
Cindy Kurzma

Invite a Friend!

Last night Headstand Media hosted our Nightstand 3 event. Thanks to all of you came out and participated despite the snowy weather. We had a great time of networking, discussion and learning.

Kyle Williams, SEO Specialist at Headstand Media, was the guest presenter for Nightstand 3. Kyle’s presentation was entitled: SEO Marketing Basics. View the summary of his presentation below, as well as both a PDF and PPT version of the presentation ready for download.

Search engine marketing has changed from being an optional traffic source, to a requirement all website owners must include in their overall business strategy. Applying proper search engine optimization practices to an un-optimized website will often increase traffic base many times over. Having the right fundamentals in place can create a snowball effect, where visitors not only find your site from search engines, but continue coming back.

Fundamental SEO Concepts

• Use keyword analysis tools such as WordTracker or Google AdWords to find out what terms ‘real people’ search on related to your business. When choosing keywords to target, try and pick phrases that are as specific as possible. These are generally less competitive and will yield a more targeted visitor.
• Have your website created with as much text as possible, while not sacrificing design aspects. Search engines cannot read the text used in your images.
• Take advantage of the benefits in using CSS (cascading style sheets) vs. traditional table-based layouts. CSS provides a good foundation for proper SEO techniques.
• Search engine optimization is a natural process. Think about whether the SEO strategy benefits your users. If the given technique is being done only to improve your search engine rankings, it may be a bad idea.

SEO Marketing Basics (PDF 850 KB)
SEO Marketing Basics (PPT 150 KB)

Check out the photos we posted on flickr. Feel free to comment and tag these photos as you see fit!

Thanks again to all who attended. Please leave comments, questions and suggestions off of this post. Feel free to pass our blog and Nightstand information to anyone else in your network who you feel would enjoy and profit from coming to a future Nightstand event.

Headstand Media will host its third Nightstand event on January 31st, 2008. The presentation topic will be on “Search Engine Marketing Basics,” and will be presented by Kyle Williams, of Headstand Media.

Since 1997, Kyle has been creating content driven sites with a focus on revenue generation from advertising, and search engine traffic. What started as a hobby, selling strategy guides for a popular video game through the Amazon.com website, lead to the development of Survive Outdoors, Inc., an informational portal on various wilderness survival topics. Kyle worked with Randal Birkey from 2000-2003 and was responsible for igniting the SEO capabilities and growth with past clients. At Headstand Media, Kyle will combine his experience in search engine marketing with Web 2.0 methodology to further enhance and grow Headstand Media client businesses.

As usual, we will have food and drink available for attendees from 6 to 7 PM. This informal networking time will be followed by brief introductions and the featured 15-20 minute presentation. Our evening ends with lively Q&A discussion around the topic.

Attendees:
Randal Birkey
Benjamin Nelson
Kyle Williams
Chris Arndt - Moody Bible Institute
Lauren Dillon - Sunshine Gospel Ministries
Steve Tanner - Kidology
Kent Thompson
Patrick Flanagan - ShopLocal
Dwight Nelson - HBN Design
Anne Chipman - HBN Design
Erik Vorhes - Textivism
Becky Williams - DePaul University
Yo Yamaki
Donny Williams - TLN
Ryan Hamm - Christianity Today International
Derek Taylor - Taylor Design Studios
Deb Knoner - Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation
Eric Wagnon - Wagnon Media
Matt Ritsman
Kent Johnson

Last night Headstand Media held our Nightstand 2 event. Thanks to all of you came out and participated despite the busy holiday season. We had a great time of networking, discussion and learning.

Jason Zielke, Venture Associate for the Dillon Kane Group, was the guest presenter for Nightstand 2. Jason’s presentation was entitled: Venture Dollars as a Predictor of Web 2.0 Sustainability. See the summary of his presentation below, references from his talk and our discussion and both a PDF and PPT version of the presentation ready for download.

Although venture capital funds continue to invest in Web 2.0 companies at heavy schedules, basic market dynamics and economics are a signal for the sustainability of these investments. So long as Web 2.0 companies can create value, yielding expected returns to their investors, then venture dollars will continue to pipe into this sector.

Competitive advantage is very difficult to achieve, and it is even more difficult to sustain. In order to survive and thrive, providers must be aware of their competitive threats. The barrier to entry for starting a Web 2.0 company is very low, which makes it even more difficult to reward investors. Questions still remain about the relative value of a critical mass (e.g. Facebook is valued between $4BN and $10BN, depending upon the analyst). Larger questions also loom concerning the long run stickiness of these customers: on a daily basis, websites with hipper names jockey for an incumbent’s customers – it’s not costly for customers to switch.

Venture Capitalists will continue to invest in Web 2.0 companies as long as there is profitable liquidity for them. However, the deals will continue to be small, and more difficult to find (no one really knows how to predict a Web 2.0 winner). Also, the number of large Web 2.0 companies looking to grow by acquisition is very small, which may reduce the likelihood of acquisition as an exit strategy. Finally, VCs are becoming increasingly more interested in the hotter investment sectors like Biotech and Clean Tech (“Venture Capital Strengthens While Private Equity Slumps”, BusinessWeek; Dec 2007)

REFERENCES:
The Innovator’s Dilemma Christensen (1997)

“Global Venture Capital Investment in Web 2.0 Companies on the Rise”; Ernst&Young/Dow Jones VentureOne (March 21, 2007)

“Venture Capital Firms Set Their Sights on New Ideas – Not New Technologies” (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu) August 8, 2007

“Social Computing, Friend Spam”; Technology Review (MIT); December, 2007

“Venture Capital Strengthens While Private Equity Slumps”; Business Week; Dec. 31, 2007

“The Scobel Show”; Fast Company; Dec 2007

“The Big Tease”; Fast Company; Dec 2007

“Venture Capital Investment in Web 2.0”; (http://consultaglobal.wordpress.com/2007/09/27)

“Strategies For Being A Platform Leader”; MIT Sloan Management Review; Oct. 26, 2007

“VC in the OC”, National Venture Capital Association; Sep 12, 2007
www.fuordigital.com, www.simpartners.biz, www.adgooroo.com, www.omniture.com, www.marketleap.com, www.semphonic.com, www.comscore.com

Venture Dollars as a Predictor of Web 2.0 Sustainability (PDF 2.4 MB)
Venture Dollars as a Predictor of Web 2.0 Sustainability (PPT 1 MB)

Thanks again to all who attended. Please leave comments, questions and suggestions off of this post. Feel free to pass our blog and Nightstand information to anyone else in your network who you feel would enjoy and profit from coming to a future Nightstand event.

Benjamin, Jason and I have been brainstorming potential topics for Nightstand in 2008. Here are a few that we’d like to share for your comments:

• Top 10 Web 2.0 Websites You Should Know About
• Design for the “Mobile Web.”
• Viral Video - Best Practices
• A Strategic Overview on the Future of the Web
• Building Online Communities
• Creative Web from an Agency Perspective
• Search Engine Optimization
• Design for the User Experience
• How a Publishing Firm Survived the Digital Revolution

Please let us know what you think of these topics and give us any additional ideas and thoughts you may have!

- Randy and Benjamin