Today: The importance of owning your own domain name, and suggestions for alternative website names.

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What happens when someone Googles you?

Seems like an innocent question, right? But go ahead and ask 10 random friends and see what they say.

- Some are confident and know that the top results are their own website, or a LinkedIn page or Facebook.
- Others have a popular name, and thus can’t quite make it to the frontpage.
- Some have positive results come up, such as a listing at a conference or something with the college alumni, but nothing special.
- For the unlucky, an unflattering photo or comment appears near the top of the list.
- And for some segment of people nothing comes up, and they don’t care.

As I’ve talked about many times, it’s easy for someone like me, living in New York City and completely immersed in all things media, to have a distorted view on a topic like this. Not only do I have a blog and a podcast and a book, but I actively own websites and purposely try to make sure my results rank high.

Just the fact that you are listening to my podcast or reading a blog like The Hopkinson Report, means that you probably have a certain degree of knowledge about your results, and are probably proactive in controlling it.

And yes, there are plenty of people that don’t know and don’t care.

However, there are maybe millions more that WANT to have a presence on the web, but don’t know how to get started. If that’s you, I’m going to show you how at the end of this post. But first off, here are…

4 reasons WHY you should own your own domain

(Listen to the podcast to hear me dig deeper on each of these topics)

1) Rank higher in search
If you’re establishing a personal brand or starting a business, you’re going to want to own your own domain. While major sites like LinkedIn and Facebook will bubble to the top for newly established people on the web, Google’s algorithm weighs exact searches heavily. So if your name is John Doe and someone types John Doe and you own JohnDoe.com and it is a legitimate site with good content on it, eventually that will bubble up to the top.

Ironically, I am a bad example of this. If you Google Jim Hopkinson, in most cases The Hopkinson Report.com shows up before JimHopkinson.com. The reason for this is that this site was established in 2008, and has hundreds of links back and forth to major sites like Wired, and tons of content. Meanwhile, I launched JimHopkinson.com within the last six months. But if you’re starting from scratch it might work differently for you.

2) Hide negative search results
It’s not always easy to remove that drunk photo from college that comes up in a search, but by registering your own name, you can make efforts to try and make sure that your domain comes up ahead of it.

3) It’s crucial for job seekers
Every job seeker should have their own domain. According to the NY Times article Social Media History Becomes a New Job Hurdle, “75 percent of recruiters are required by their companies to do online research of candidates, and 70 percent of recruiters in the United States report that they have rejected candidates because of information online.”

4) Reserve your name or children’s name for later use
Even if you don’t have plans for yourself or a business now, you might want to reserve your name so no one else gets it. Also, many parents are registering their children’s names, whether to put up some baby photos and videos, or just have it set aside if they become the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

But what if your name is already taken?

IE, Your name is John Smith and JohnSmith.com was snagged long ago. Never fear. Here are…

7 suggestions for alternate website names:

(Listen to the podcast to hear me dig deeper on each of these topics)

1. Use another domain extension
Option: Register JohnDoe.net, JohnDoe.co, JohnDoe.org, etc.
Pros: Address remains short and easy to read.
Cons: You may need to constantly remind people that it is not the most common .com address. Be aware of what actually does live at the .com address, as at least some people will go there accidentally.

2. Add a middle name or initial
Option: Register JohnTDoe.com or JohnThomasDoe.com.
Pros: It uses the common .com extension and works if people are familiar with your middle name.
Cons: It’s a little more unwieldy and harder to remember.

3. Add a clever modifier to the name
Option: Register TheJohnDoe.com, YouveGotJohn.com, OriginalJohnDoe.com, TheRealJohnDoe.
Pros: Very “Twitter Celebrity-esque and works for some people.
Cons: Harder to remember, feels forced, and tells everyone you couldn’t get the domain you wanted.

4. Add an internet based word to it
Option: Register JohnDoeOnline.com, JohnDoeWebsite.com, etc.
Pros: Pretty straightforward and keeps your name as you want it.
Cons: Harder to remember.

5. Create a new word or company name
Option: Register DesignFroggle.com, DesignForSocialChange.com, etc.
Pros: Using a fun or generic word worked for Amazon, Google, and Yahoo. Just as easy to promote your company as yourself.
Cons: Harder to find unique names vs. back in the 90s. You still won’t own your name.

6. Tie your name to your location
Option: Register JohnDoeNYC.com, JohnDoeInSeattle.com, etc.
Pros: Ties your name and brand to a specific part of the country.
Cons: You can never move.

7. Tie your name to your profession
Option: Register JohnDoeDesign.com, ArchitectJohn.com, etc.
Pros: Ties your name and brand to your specific industry.
Cons: You can never change jobs.

3 things NOT to do

1. Use dashes
Option: Register John-Doe.com
Pros: Straightforward.
Cons: It’s one thing to see this written, it’s another to say it. Every time you tell someone your website, you’ll need to say “John Dash Doe.”

2. Use Numbers
Option: Register Website4JohnDoe99.com
Pros: Nothing.
Cons: Again with saying it out loud… you’ll need to say “The word website, the number four, john doe, the number ninety-nine.” You can do better than that.

3. Try and be really clever
Option: Register J0hnDoe or JohnDoh! or YouveGotSexyJohnny
Pros: You are clever for 1 minute.
Cons: People will be annoyed for a lifetime.

So how do you make that first step?

It’s easy to think about hiring a designer or installing WordPress or planning a huge web presence. But if you’re just getting started, you just want a simple landing page, or you just want something for companies to find while you are job seeking, here is my suggestion:

1. Buy your domain GoDaddy.com
2. Set up a free about me landing page
3. Redirect the url (yourname.com) to the landing page.

That way you look a little more professional and can put jimhopkinson.com on your resume and business cards and not about.me/jimhopkinson

This is incredibly simple, takes less than 10 minutes, and can be up and running in an hour, so I tell people.
Get Your Name Today!

And to make this simple, I created a website called, you guessed it,

www.GetYourNameToday.com

Two quick caveats
1. As of this post post on May 9, 2012 I’m still putting the final touches on the site and on the video tutorial, so depending on when you read this, it still might be a bit of a work in progress. But it’s about 95% done and functional, so check it out and let me know what you think. You can click the contact link on the header and send me an email, or hit me up on Twitter: @HopkinsonReport

2. I want to give full disclosure that I am a member of GoDaddy’s affiliate program, which means I earn a small commission if you sign up by clicking the link on the site. This does not in any way affect or increase the cost of your domain — think of it as a small ‘thank you’ if you found the information I presented here valuable and time-saving for you.

So don’t wait another minute to grab your domain because someone might snag it from you… Get Your Name Today.

Jim kicks off the newly branded Hopkinson Report Blog and Podcast, highlighting three powerful workplace trends

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WOW.

I am SO excited to be back doing The Hopkinson Report podcast.

JUST WOW.

Where to begin?

I think a good way to do this would be to look at the past, present, and future.

PAST

For those that may not be familiar with the show, I am the former Associate Director of Marketing at Conde Nast Digital, and was also known as the Wired Marketing Guy. I started The Hopkinson Report podcast in April 2008, and did 175 episodes over the next 3 ½ years.

The show covered ‘the marketing trends that matter,’ and when I look at what categories I tagged my posts in over the years, here were the most popular subjects:

• 107 tags under social media/new media
• 96 tags under marketing case studies
• 93 branding/advertising
• 87 for pop culture/entertainment
• 80 under interviews
• And on the line with New York City, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and Career Development

This was a tremendous labor of love and fantastic side project, and I want to thank Wired again for giving me the opportunity. I was able to build my brand, keep on top of the latest trends, and most importantly, made a ton of fantastic connections.

During my five years at Wired I also developed a number of other side projects, including teaching social media at NYU, public speaking, writing a book on salary negotiation and getting that published in 2011, and writing or appearing on sites such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Post, Payscale.com, and others.

Just as I was beginning to feel my career at Wired and Conde Nast was winding down, I was getting restless, and had been planning on my exit strategy to be able to work on these projects. Then a funny thing happened. My department went through yet another reorganization, and in the process my job was eliminated.

For anyone that has been through this, you know the range of emotions. Looking back, I was 5% stunned. I was 5% bummed.

But I can honestly say that the next 90% of emotion was excitement.

I realize this is not the first reaction for the vast majority of people when they find out they no longer have a job. In fact, it is often quite devastating.

However – and I think this is really important when I talk about the future of the show – I think that…

There are three reasons why I had this attitude.

1) Flexibility. I am single and thus don’t have a wife and 3 kids and 2 dogs and a big house in the suburbs and huge mortgage payment and 5 healthcare plans to maintain and thankfully listened to my financial planner when they told me to put aside some money in an emergency fund. I have friends and family members who are in that situation and I know it can be really, really hard. I feel for them.

2) Experience. I was laid off after 18 months at my first job. I was laid off at the end of my 8 years at my third job. I had been through this before and while it is unnerving for sure, I maintain that both times it was by far a more positive thing and massive growth experience. It’s not always easy to embrace change, but having been through it before made it easier.

3) Preparation. Because I had been through it in the past, I had planted seeds for side projects in the event it happened again. I had sketched out alternative forms of income, and built a very strong network around me. So when it happened, I was more than ready.

I am excited to tell you that Conde Nast graciously allowed me to maintain all my archive content, and that can all be accessed through the archive tab on my blog.

But enough about me and enough about the past. Let’s get to the present.

PRESENT

The podcast is moving in a new direction. It will be the same, but different.

First of all, why change what you were doing?

Great question, and one I debated long and hard. First of all, I didn’t want to lose any of my existing audience. It would have been very easy to keep moving forward with the same exact topics.

It was actually while I was working remotely in a foreign country that I made the decision. Three reasons:

1) Embrace change. I’ve done the same format for 3 ½ years. Yes, it was working, but it was time to mix things up, try something new, and as Jonathan Fields would say ‘lean into uncertainty.’ So hence the new content direction, the new icon, the new color scheme, the redesigned website (by the amazingly awesome Meghan O’Neill of Monday Designs), and the new music – which by the way is from my first rock band, The Nasties.

2) Align goals. When I was obsessed with sports, I worked at ESPN. When I was obsessed with technology, I worked at Wired. The formula that has worked with me is to do things that are completely aligned with my lifestyle. It’s hard coming up with original content week after week, so it better be around something you are immersed in daily.

The fact is, I am no longer the marketing guy at a major corporation doing this stuff every day. So why should my blog still be about that?

3) Emerging trends. Here’s the analogy I’ve been telling people. You know when you decide to buy a new car, and you narrow it down to say, a Mini Cooper, and then EVERYWHERE you look is a Mini Cooper? Is that because there really ARE a lot of these cars, or is it now that your eyes are open and you see the trend more clearly? To be honest, I don’t know.

What I do know is this.
- I sensed a trend in the late 90s that the internet was a big deal. Yeah, so did a lot of people, but I did something about it and it paid off.
- In the late 2000s I saw that social media was a relentless force and I was able to embrace that and work it into my career and lifestyle. Again, I wasn’t the only one.
- Right now I see another trend that could be big and aligns with my goals, so I am going to jump into it headfirst.

That trend is the way that we approach our career and lifestyle.

Let’s go to some stats.

NEW WORKFORCE

• Forbes recently had a cover story around Social Power and the Corporate Revolution. Employees and customers would be calling the shots, not corporations.
• They noted that 54% of Millennials want to start a business or had already started one. Although I am an old man firmly in the Generation X category, I work with Gen Y constantly and have seen how things are evolving.
• They cited a study where 96% of women said that being independent is their most important life goal. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want to marry and have kids some day. What it means is that they want to do so on their own terms.

NEW COMPANIES

• Bloomberg Businessweek had an article that noted that the number of startups surged 60% in 2011 after a six year decline. Startups aren’t anything new, but they’re making a comeback. Lots of entrepreneurs may have waited for the recession to pass just a bit, but they’re jumping in with a vengeance.
• They report that 400,000,000 people worldwide are now engaged in entrepreneurship

NEW ATTITUDE

• The January issue of Fast Company interviews several pioneers – both young and old – proclaiming ‘The Secrets of Generation Flux.’ The group includes Baratunde Thurston from The Onion, Beth Comstock from GE, and Pete Cashmore of Mashable.
• The story focuses on this new generation that embraces instability and not only tolerates, but enjoys, recalibrating their career.
• One quote that caught my eye from Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft, advisor to Google, and former non-profit worker: “People ask me, ‘Are you afraid you’re going to get fired?’ That’s the whole point: not to be afraid.”

Is this lifestyle for everyone? No. I realize by changing focus a bit, I may lose some people. But hold on.

The things that will empower this new way of thinking … truly enjoying what you do, having more flexibility in your life, and working on cool side projects, are the same as what I’ve covered before, including:

• Embracing the latest social media trends
• Keeping up with transformative industries like digital publishing
• Hearing about new and emerging companies through interviews
• Building a personal brand
• Harnessing new technology and gadgets

Best of all, the STYLE will be the same, especially since I will be dedicating more time to it and not just as a side project.

That means I am going bring it with high energy every single week.

It means you’ll get deep-dive case studies of what is really going on out there.

It means you’ll hear interviews with people driving the growth of the digital age.

And it means you’ll get more of someone walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Think it would be nice to work remotely from Buenos Aires? I’m going to show you exactly how to do it since I’VE DONE IT.

FUTURE

So what’s going to happen in the future? Here are some things I want to accomplish in 2012:

More video – Filming and editing video is time consuming and often difficult, but it is also fun and an enormous opportunity. I feel that it is a very important skill to have in the coming years, so I am going to dive right in and do it. Like the podcast, it might take me a few months or even all year to get really good at it, but I’m bringing you along for the ride.

Interviews – I already have some great plans for SXSW this year, so am looking forward to some great interviews.

You might be asking, but Jim, how will you make money?

Ah yes, the question nobody likes to address. And trust me, as excited as I am right now, all of this is an experiment right now. I feel I have the drive and confidence to make this happen, and am loving this lifestyle so far, but I completely reserve the right to sell out and go back to a full-time job in 6 months or a year if that’s how things play out.

Here’s how I am going to approach it.

1) Multiple revenue streams. I won’t be making all of my income from the podcast, so I won’t be totally reliant on this.

2) Affiliate marketing. For those unfamiliar with this, here’s how it works. Let’s say I’m talking about how to create a website for your business. This is a very relevant topic and one that I get asked about all the time. If I note that my hosting company is Dreamhost, and you end up using Dreamhost by clicking on the link in my post, they give me credit for that. Here’s the key. I will only do this with products and services that I am using and trust. I’ve been on Dreamhost for many years and have 3 websites running on it, so I can speak to both the pros and the cons from experience. The good part is that it doesn’t cost the user anything extra.

3) Products. I might look into writing an ebook or recording a webinar on an incredibly in-depth topic, and offering that for sale on the site. Again, the vast majority of content on the blog will always be free. For example, the new hosting company for my podcast files has the ability to offer a mobile app for the show. I hesitated at first since I would have to charge $1.99. But if this is something that users want, and it is a totally optional purchase and in no way affects users listening to the show on iTunes or from the website, it could be an option.

4) Sponsors. I am excited to have Freshbooks.com as the premier sponsor for the new Hopkinson Report podcast. Freshbooks is a fast and simple invoicing and time tracking service that help you manage your business. Again, all of the other factors apply.

- First, this is relevant service since I am going to be talking about people starting their own business or side project. It aligns with my goals.

- Second, it is a product that I am actively using right now to manage all of my expenses and invoicing. I am loving it, and so is my accountant.

- Lastly, it doesn’t cost the user anything. You can sign up for a free trial if it is a product you are interested in. I might do a quick read each show, and you’ll see a banner on the website, but the upside is, it enables me to do the show, and they’ll have resources to hook me up with cool guests, prizes, and so on.

I am looking for 2 more high-quality, relevant sponsors, so if you, your company, or someone you know wants to reach an awesome audience of people like you, please drop me a line at Jim [at] thehopkinsonreport.com.

So to sum up:

1) The Hopkinson Report is back, and it has a new website, a new look and feel, a new sponsor, and a new direction.
2) I will continue to bring you high quality conversations around new media, technology, and personal branding, including interviews with people driving the growth of the digital age.
3) I feel there is a significant shift in the workplace happening, resulting in new types of businesses being created, a new type of workforce at those companies, and a new attitude toward work and lifestyle.

If you can’t already tell, I am completely thrilled to be back behind the mic and writing again. I can’t wait to bring you amazing content every week, so please stay tuned and spread the word.

Thank you.

Discover the three best ways to engage with readers on Facebook

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Facebook continues to be the social media giant. It’s funny to look back at Episode 105 eighteen months ago back in May 2010 when I wondered whether recent privacy events could signal the fall of Facebook, and I went through 7 reasons the mighty giant might fail.

Needless to say, they’ve recovered from some of the issues I posed, including privacy concerns and revenue generation. In fact, the New York Times and Wired ran a stories about a group of students that were taking on Facebook with a new product called Diaspora, and it gained some pretty good buzz.

Where are we 18 months later? Well, Diaspora seems to be in alpha release still and in retrospect, was just a tiny fly on the back of a Rhino. And that Rhino would be Google Plus, which Facebook seems to be going head-to-head with and still winning.

Of course by now if you’re a brand, you have already have a robust Facebook page. You’ve updated some graphics, built up your following, and have widgets on your website to drive people to Like you on Facebook.

But now that you have fans on Facebook, how do you engage with your audience?

I’ve been running the Wired Facebook page for some time now, and am also managing Community Managers for four other Conde Nast brands. Needless to say, we are seeing lots of feedback and data, and are constantly trying to glean learnings from our users.

I recently did a deep-dive analysis of 60 days of Facebook posts on Wired, analyzing 250 posts for a theory that I have, which I’ll share with you in a moment.

But what I came up with his week was a fairly obvious observation, but one that I think can still really help The Hopkinson Report readers. When you’re posting something on your page, you need to have a goal.

Ask yourself, what is the purpose of this post?

Keep in mind that Conde Nast properties have magazine and websites and are content publishers, so if your business is retail or selling a physical product your mileage may vary, but in general when I looked at all the ways you can interact, three became clear.

The three pillars of Facebook engagement

1. Driving traffic
The first type of post is to drive traffic to your website. For the extreme newbies out there, the steps are:

a) Choose the ‘Link’ option and post in a URL from your website

b) This will bring up a thumbnail option if you have a photo on your page. I highly recommend that you do so that it catches the reader’s eye, and note that if you have multiple photos on your page, you can page through them and select the best one.

c) You can also edit the title and description of the post that is automatically brought in by facebook by clicking on the text.

d) Lastly, you write a description of the article you are posting. It can be the same as the title from the post itself, or you can customize it. It’s a good practice to word your text with a call to action to nudge the reader in that direction.

Again, the goal here is to actually encourage people to LEAVE Facebook itself and go to your website. The reason you would do this is to get them to read an article or view a slideshow (where you have ads that generate page views and revenue) or buy a product on your site.

Example:
Wired Product Review team takes a look at the new iPhone 4S. Click here to read their full review on Wired.com.

2. Driving comments
The second type of post is meant to keep people ON the Facebook page and engage directly with readers. Driving people to your website in step one is great, and might be what you ultimately want to do as a business, but if you constantly are asking people to leave Facebook and do something for you, it becomes robot-like.

In order to engage on a new level, it is important to ask questions, respond to your fans, and get fans talking to each other. There are a few ways to do this.

a) Post a link, but ask a direct question. In this model, you are doing Step 1 and posting a link, but how you write your status is much different. To build on the example above, you might say ‘Wired reviewed the new iPhone 4S this week. Do you feel that it is a significant upgrade over the iPhone 4, and how does it compare to the top Android Phones?’

In a perfect world, readers will go to your site, read the article, give you page views, and then return to Facebook to give their opinion. But in many cases, people already have made up their mind about the iPhone, and will go right to the comments and speak their mind. And let me tell you, the iPhone vs Android battle is alive and well.

b) Ask a question without a link. In this manner, you are asking an open-ended question about a topic that your audience is familiar with, and driving people right to the comments.

For example, we might simply say: ‘It’s seems clear that the smartphone race is going to come down to Apple vs Android. Leave a comment below to say why you chose one platform over another.’
The goal of this is to spark a discussion on your Facebook page and get readers interacting with each other. It’s a good practice for you, as the brand, to jump in and stoke the fires a bit and keep things going.

3. Driving shares
Facebook has only recently surfaced the statistic of ‘shares’ on a brand’s page, but it’s a helpful one. This tells you the reach that you are getting BEYOND your immediate audience. If one of your readers feels compelled enough to take your content and distribute it to their friends, then you’ve really nailed a topic that people like.

By sharing content, it has the true chance to go viral, as one person exposes it to their several hundred friends, and then those people might share it again to their several hundred friends.

What drives shares? A great story will be shared. A great question will be shared. And of course, you can be blatant and say ‘Like this post? Share it with your friends.’ But one of the best ways to drive shares is through PHOTOS.

Through the proliferation of cameras on mobile devices, high-end DSLRs, quick blogging services like Tumblr, and apps like Instagram, photos are being shared on the web at dizzying pace.

Photos are eye-catching, evocative, and let’s face it… people have ADD and are lazy. Sure, they can spend a few minutes coming up with an intelligent response about the advantages of Android as an open platform, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to see a killer photo of a planet and share it on their wall.

In my research, I determined that users were:
- 1.5x more likely to comment on a photo
- 2.5x more likely to share a photo
- 3.5x more likely to like a photo

So there you have it, the 3 pillars of Facebook engagement. Depending on your brand and your goals, you should determine what the best mix of posts will be for you. It’s important to keep it diversified, but whether you split them 33% each, or decide to go 70% photos is up to you.

I’m off to go take some photos.

HP has had a tough year. What would you have done differently?

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Today I talk about the troubles at HP, and the interesting story around the Touchpad.

Listen to the podcast for the full story, but here are the highlights, grouped around articles:

8/18  HP Kills TouchPad, Puts WebOS in Hibernation

A funny thing happened after HP killed the touchpad.
- They offered them at a fire sale price of $99
- This created huge demand
- It become a “must-have” item for geeks
- People were waiting in line, with even stories of suburban “stampeding”
- They got huge buzz on the internet

8/22 From HP to Amazon, the Tablet Dilemma: Go Big or Go Home

- Great story by Wired’s Tim Carmody
- The Kindle has competed against the iPad. And the Book. But not much else.
- Leading to the quote: ‘There is no tablet market, just an iPad market’

From blogger Justin Lowery

“Gizmodo published the stats yesterday to illustrate the fact. The iPad totally eclipses all other tablets in sales. Apple has made 281 times more profit from the iPad 1 alone – in just three market quarters – than all other ‘tablet’ manufacturers have made from all their models, across all their brands, combined.”

8/28 Wall Street Journal, Al Lewis
Let’s say you were given 1 year to kill Hewlett-Packard. Here’s how you do it.

Some tidbits:
- Fire well-performing CEO Mark Hurd over expense-report irregularities and a juicy sexual-harassment claim that you admit has no merit.
- Fire four board members, as publicly as possible.
- Foment a mass exodus of key executives who actually know how to run the giant computer company.
- Hire new a CEO from German competitor, SAP, which sells business software, not consumer products.

8/29 Modders Slap Popular Android Hack on HP’s TouchPad

I knew it was a matter of time before we’d see modded Touchpads running Android

8/30 HP Resurrects TouchPad Tablet to Pacify Rabid Customers

Wha what???

The big question:
Best Buy reportedly had 200,000 units. If you were an entrepreneur with $15 million and they agreed to sell you all of them at once for $75 a pop, what kind of business could you create where you could leverage the touchpad (and double your money)?

- We got 85 comments on Wired Facebook page (Facebook.com/wired)

Our examples
- Car dealership
- Hospitals
- Factory
- Restaurants
- Schools
- Charity (One tablet per child)

Reader examples
Sophi Kravitz – use as a Garmin/GPS device

Joop Kaashoek – For Pics, Movies, Youtube in your home

Madonsela Vusi – Standardize the South African taxi industries

Conor Landsdale – Give to troops overseas

Anil Metla – Use for tourists with maps ($5 per use)

Mint Nopnirapath – Do a pre-sell BEFORE buying from best buy. Buy all from them then hire them to ship to the customers. no capital needed.

Jason Wetzel – Kiosks. Use them as the touch screen interface on vending machines, things like the RedBox video rentals. Also, Web access terminals on airports and malls. Airline cabins, etc

And my favorite:

Richard Feigin – I would hand them out as a goodie bag to people entering Superbowl arena 2012. In exchange everybody lifts the pads over their heads by the first touchdown of the game. The Pads are preinstalled with a giant pattern divided over all screens. The moving pattern is a live commercial for any brand interested in buying Superbowl airtime at 50% off TV price. The brand will have the worlds largest guerilla marketing stunt.

What would YOU do?

Hit me up at @HopkinsonReport on Twitter, or leave a comment below

Jim interviews designer Shaun Sanders to learn the key to building amazing infographics.

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Today I speak with Shaun Sanders, a graphic designer specializing in infographics. I met Shaun through our mutual friend Alexis Ohanian, who hired Shaun to produce some awesome infographics for Hipmunk.

Listen to the podcast for the full interview, but here are the highlights, thoughts, and things that we discussed:

Definition of infographics
I view infographics as another option in a marketer’s social media arsenal. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people that don’t know what the term means when I told them my plans for doing one.

The easiest, old school comparison I make is like the USA Today “Snapshots” that would appear in the newspaper, using cartoon-esque images to represent data. You know, like the quantity of pasta consumed:

Shaun jumps in to give me us a more purist definition: Data visualization
The key: Crossing data visualization with fun, color, and additional elements

“Infographics work because most people will look at them vs sending them a long text article. Because it comes across as fun cartoon, they are more likely to check it out, as well embed it and share it on Facebook.”

What the average person might not know about infographics
- How they help website traffic
- How they can build ‘link juice’ around certain keywords
- Example of How long could you survive chained to a Bunk Bed with a Velociraptor?

What is the advantage of an infographic over a video in an attempt to create something viral?
- Better bang for the buck
- No time constraints like a video
Example: Foursquare had a great one at the end of 2010
Example: Taking a complicated topic and explaining it visually WTF is HTML 5 and why should we care?

The thing that sets Shaun apart
- He can create the infographic
- Does all illustrations
- Most importantly, he does all the research
* As a student, he is used to writing papers with research that can withstand a professor’s prying eyes
* Has taken 3 statistics classes such as advanced business statistics
* All of this is fresh in his mind

‘I would rather spend the time to make sure everything checks out, than to have 1 tiny error ruin the entire integrity of the graphic’

Case study: How to make an infographic to support the Salary Tutor book launch – a 10 step evolution:

Step 1: Determine Timing
My initial email to Shaun was July 24, and we hoped to have it complete by the week of 8/8.
We ended up working on it a bit longer to make sure we had it perfected.

Step 2: Provide direction
I outlined the following as my goals:

The 3 big picture topics are:
* Current state of the economy
* Getting a raise in your current job
* People that are leaving for new jobs

A few sub-topics that I think are real button-pushers:
* The disparity between men and women’s pay
* Does weight and looks have anything to do with income
* Anything social media related (Facebook has youngest workforce; social media skills matter, does HR google you and check your FB page for drunk photos) etc

I set up a Google doc to share links from stories containing a lot of the research to get him on his way

Step 3: Decide on payment
Shaun was at a slight deficit since, well, it WAS about salary negotiation, but he read the book so we were on the same level. Shaun charges an hourly rate, which includes all the hours worked on the three stages (ideation and research, custom illustration, creation). We settled on a budget range we were both comfortable with.

Step 4: Organize the data
- Shaun goes through all the research and tries to distill it down to a one page Word doc
- During this process, he discovers data which must be interesting, but also able to be represented graphically
- What he starts with is never what he ends up with
- Shaun got real excited when he found this much data

Step 5: First pass
Shaun started with a vertical layout, with the primary focus being happiness vs salary level
This is an important step, just getting things down and free flowing the graphics to see how lays out. You can design in your head all you want, but like an author that just starts writing, you need to get in the flow.

Step 6: Getting to the Eureka moment
At some point, Shaun hits the eureka moment when the research is done, the graphics come together, and he just starts moving forward with the direction he knows it will take. In this case, he knew the focus was going to be on the timeline.

He showed it to me in paper form for approval of this primary direction, which I approved.

Shaun tells me one of the most difficult things to deal with in infographics are “outliers” in data, and how he deals with it.

Step 7: The first “final” candidate is sent
- Good news bad news. Jim loves the majority, bottom is great.
- But not the top. Felt it was off topic. How does Shaun handle it?

Step 8: Almost there
- Right topics, 3 out of 4 looks are right
- Jim debates dropping the “weight” stats due to potential user pushback, but Shaun convinces him to stay the course
- We talk over a new way to represent it

Step 9: The Final product
The final product, as seen on SalaryTutor.com/infographic

Step 10: Spread the word
We are releasing this post before putting it out into the wild, so unfortunately I can’t tell you how it did in advance. Check back and I can give an update in a later podcast. Here is a rough plan of where we plan to ‘seed’ it:
- Submit to reddit
- Post on Facebook of my personal account and book account
- Tweet on my personal account and book account
- Email my “100 super influencers” that have my book
- Submit to coolinfographics.com
- Send to salary sites
- Embed in blog posts

Contact Shaun at his website, ShaunSanders.com

Jim interviews Nick Gammell, CEO and founder of workout app Gain Fitness.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

When it comes to working out, there are questions that come up time and time again:

- We all know we SHOULD work out, what can be done to make sure I DO work out?
- How can I find the time to work out on a crazy schedule?
- How do I keep from getting bored with my workouts?
- How can I keep better track of my results?
- Why do personal trainers cost so much?
- How do I see results once I’ve reached a plateau?

And for the Apple fans out there…
- My iPhone can do just about everything, but can it make me look better naked?

On this week’s podcast, I spoke with Nick Gammell, the CEO and Founder of Gain Fitness in his attempt to answer all of those questions.

He comes from a good pedigree of brains and brawn… a lifelong athlete and former college football player to address the workout side of things, and an analytical brain with experience at Deloitte consulting and a little tech company named Google to fuel the technology side.

After chatting for just a few minutes, it became clear that I was the perfect demographic for his product.
- I enjoy working out but don’t have a lot of time
- I generally do the same workouts so need variety to get out of a rut
- I like to track my progress and see results

What the gain fitness app on my iPod touch allowed me to do was set up some initial parameters (gender, equipment access, intensity level) and then enter how long I wanted to work out.

On a Saturday, I did 45 minutes and did a lower body gym workout. On a Tuesday before work, I did 30 minutes of “push” exercises (incline dumbell press, etc) at the gym as well.

But then life got in the way. After hitting snooze a few too many times the next day, running late for work, and still feeling a bit sore, I did something I wouldn’t have done without the app.

Instead of skipping the workout, I programmed a quick 10 minute, low-intensity, at-home workout. This ended up being mostly stretches and a few strength exercises, but I could see how getting in an extra quick workout or two every single week would really pay off.

The best thing for me was it was like having a trainer, telling me new exercises and structuring my workout.

In the interview, I go on to ask Nick:
- What was his background that led him to consulting, Google, and then CEO

- What kind of advantage does having a group of former Google employees give their startup?

- How do the analytics on the backend help customize the workout?

- How is Gain marketing the app and getting the word out, given the $120,000,000,000 fitness industry and hundreds of thousands of apps in the app store?

In the end, success in any workout plan comes down to changing habits. So far, bringing along my own little personal trainer has given me a new level of excitement. Only time will tell if I’ll be uploading before and after workout photos to prove that success.

Gain Fitness Website | Gain Fitness On iTunes

Jim walks you through the questions you need to answer when constructing a personal website for your brand.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

(When you’re done here, check out How to create a personal website, Part 2)

For those that know me or have been listening for awhile, you know that I always have multiple projects going on, whether it be this podcast, my work at Wired, my teaching at NYU, or my book. I’ve decided I want one central hub for all these projects to live.

And while some “social media experts” just “talk the talk,” I prefer to “walk the walk” with the podcast and take my readers/listeners through actual new media events that I am doing myself. So since building this website is on my radar, and I always preach about controlling your own brand presence, I thought this would be a great opportunity to walk people through what goes into setting it up.

As always, listening to the full podcast is the best way to get all the info, but here is a summary of what I cover.

Questions you need to ask when creating your own personal website.

1) Do I need my own personal website?
The first question is whether you need a presence at all. Some people have privacy concerns, like to keep a low profile, and don’t want to be “discoverable” on the web. That’s totally fine. You need to operate at your own comfort level. But others WANT to be found on the web. My guess is the larger audience for my show falls into the latter category.

Some reasons you’d WANT to have a web presence.
- You want to be found on Google. Whether it’s fame, fortune, or ego, when someone else types your name into the #1 search engine, you want to drive people to a certain website about you.

- You want to steer people to a POSITIVE light. There are a few internet rules in our modern society. Don’t post any photos or videos that you wouldn’t want your mom to see on the web. Likewise, if someone tells you “Oh, no one will ever see this,” there’s a good chance EVERYONE will see it.

So what do you do when that video of you doing the electric slide at your boss’ wedding goes viral? It’s tough to get something bad removed, so a better tactic is to generate more positive content about you so that video gets relegated to page 2 and beyond.

- You are conducting a job search. Let’s face it. If you’re going for a job these days, there’s a good chance your future employer is going to Google you. Don’t believe me? Check out this story in the NY Times titled Social Media History Becomes a New Job Hurdle.

Take the case of two students I’ve spoken with. One had a simple personal website listing their college experience, their resume, and what type of work they wanted to pursue. When the other person was Googled, “my high school tennis stats come up.” Who would you hire?

- You want to start a blog. Whether it’s a for-profit business, a gardening blog, or just a journal of your thoughts. If you want to share your thoughts with the world, the internet is your destination.

For me: I wanted to consolidate multiple projects on the web

2) What is the goal?
Once you’ve decided to move forward, you want to set a goal for your blog or web presence. Whether it’s a business, a personal blog, a hobby, or a personal branding page, having a goal will help you stay on topic and make sure you are building something to last.

For me, the new website at JimHopkinson.com has two goals. The first is to serve as a launching pad to my various ventures. Sometimes I’m in a purely work situation, and I hand out my Conde Nast business card. Or I talk to someone about the podcast, and drive them there. But often times, the conversation hits on multiple things, and it will be nice to have one site to direct people to.

The second goal is to serve as a hub for my public speaking. Wow, it pains me to look back and see that friend and mentor Mitch Joel gave me this advice in October 2009 and I’m just getting around to it, but check out my post Mitch Joel has what 96% of public speakers are missing.

3) What blog format should I choose?
I could go into a dozen options, but really, it’s Tumblr vs WordPress right now.

Use Tumblr because… it’s free, it allows you to do fast updates, and if you have one major topic that you want to cover.

Use WordPress if… you want more control over your design, you want multiple pages and subtopics, you want to me a little more professional, you plan on having mulitple websites, and you’re in it for the long term.

4) How will you design it?
You can narrow this down to 3 choices

1. Pick an existing theme
Both Tumblr and WordPress give you a ton of free (or paid) themes to choose from, letting you find just the color, layout, and style that you want. Do a search on the general theme you want (ie, free Tumblr theme for food blogs).

2. Do it yourself
If you’ve got some design or technical chops, or maybe you’re taking a class and want to learn, have at it yourself.

3. Hire a designer
I went with this option, and will be working with Meghan O’Neill of Monday Designs. Why? Read on…

5) How much will it cost?
I strongly considered using 99 Designs. I went through all their options, looking at Website Design ($500-$1000 depending on how many concepts you want) and a WordPress Theme ($500 for 15 designs, $800 for 30 designs, and $1300 for 50 designs).

The huge advantage of 99 Designs would have been receiving dozens of diverse, unique designs to choose from. You’re basically crowdsourcing the work, and the results look amazing.

But in looking at cost, the designs don’t include coding, which adds another $300 to the price. Then if you want the code installed, you tack on another $130. Suddenly the $495 web design starts to creep into the 4 digit range.

In the end, I went with my local designer. I felt that Meghan, who lives in nearby Brookyln, would:
- Give me more flexibility in customizing multiple sub pages
- Was able to give me an all-in-one package (she does design, coding, installing, and testing)
- Be a one-on-one connection, where we could meet in person to sketch out ideas vs constant online contact

6) Before you buy your URL
If you’re going with Tumblr, head over, sign up for free and get started

But it’s a little different if you want your own URL. Your first thought might be to go to GoDaddy, which is fine. They are the market leader and great for looking up URLs. They also offer hosting.

But don’t buy that URL yet.

One major thing that many people don’t consider right away is hosting.

- If you want multiple websites
- If you’re going to get some decent traffic
- If you’re conducting business online

You want to choose your hosting company first.

Two reasons.
1) The first domain is usually free when you sign up (saving you $10).
2) It’s a pain in the butt to transfer or redirect a url you bought on one site to another

Some notes about choosing a web hosting company:
- It’s a very competitive industry. Like a cell phone or car insurance, once you’ve signed on, most people stay there. They are looking for long-term customers.
- It’s a little complicated. It helps to have some tech skills when you need to get in there and deal with a little bit of code, navigate dashboards, and set up emails.
- It’s hard to decipher reviews. If you don’t have any problems, the hosting company is fantastic. Five stars. If your site goes down just once and you lose business because people can’t get to your site, suddenly they are “the worst hosting company ever.”
- Recommendations? Read reviews, check with friends, and ask around. All I can do is offer up feedback on what I have used.
- I’ve been using Dreamhost for 4 1/2 years, and have had very good success.

What should you look for in a web hosting company?
* Is the first domain name free?
* How many domains can I run? (Dreamhost is unlimited… I currently own 9)
* How much storage do I get?
* Do I have unlimited bandwidth?
* Do they have a one-click WordPress install?
* Do they have a money back guarantee?
* What kind of support do they have, and where is it based (DH is in Los Angeles)
* What is the monthly cost? (Expect to pay about $100 a year for most beginners. For example, Dreamhost has a flat fee of $8.95 per month, while GoDaddy has tiered plans of $5, $8, and $15 per month).

7) What should the url be?
The default for a personal brand should be your name, such as JimHopkinson.com.
But what if you can’t get it? You have a few options:
- Tack on “online” (Ex: JimHopkinsonOnline.com)
- Use a general descriptive term (TheHopkinsonReport.com)
- Be creative (MikeIndustries.com, HopkinsonCreativeMedia.com, etc)

Or, create a business or blog name
A few tips for this:
- Use Keywords (Ex: a Security Guard Training site might be called SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com)
- Avoid numbers (Ex: Cash4Gold vs Cashforgold — both are bad)
- Stick to .com
- Avoid trademark names (No: iPadTrainingTips.com Yes: TabletTrainingTips.com)
- How does it read as a URL? (Note that Lumberman’s Exchange.com can become LumberManSexChange.com)
- Get alternatives (Ex: SalaryTutor/TheSalaryTutor/SalaryTutorApp/SalaryTutorBook)

Next steps:
That’s enough to get us started. I will follow up in a few weeks with my progress of my project. For now, you should:
1) Look at other sites you like (I’m going with something like Seth Godin has)
2) Wireframe the content (I’ve got a main page plus 7-9 sub pages, and another 10 question marks I need to address)

Good luck!

Up next, How to create a personal website, Part 2

[Disclaimer: some links in this post contain affiliate links]

Jim interviews Soraya Darabi, co-founder and CMO of Foodspotting.com and New Media Strategist for ABC News.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

Some people spend their entire careers building toward that one, life-fulfilling, amazing job.

Others will look back as they retire and be able to point to some good jobs, some great jobs, and a few missteps.

But in looking at the career path that 27-year-old Soraya Darabi has already taken so far, it could serve as a blueprint for “How to develop a well-rounded social media resume in the digital age.”

In fact, it is interesting enough that going through her career progression was all that was needed in terms of structure for this interview. As time ran out on us, I knew I wouldn’t get to address a topic that she explores often — the challenges women face as entrepreneurs and the advantages of being a woman in business.

Thus, we didn’t get to delve into what it was like being featured as one of the young rising female stars on the cover of a prominent business/technology magazine, but hey, I’d already been down that road before.

Ironically, we glossed over her first job where we briefly worked together, when she was a Communications Coordinator at CondeNet (now Conde Nast Digital).

And while no job is perfect, here is why Conde Nast is such a great place to work… you get exposure to so many aspects of a business that you can’t leave here without furthering your career.

The overarching mothership has its roots in the publishing industry for sure (making it great for writers, editors, designers, and fashionistas), but their drive into the digital space has been prominent (and in some cases, dominant), giving Generation Y a playground for web designers, writers, and engineers, not to mention iPhone, iPad, and social media platforms. For someone looking to work in PR/Communications, the strength of Conde’s brands goes a long way.

From there, Soraya took a position in a similar situation… a historic publishing brand wading into new media waters — The New York Times. But this time it was all about timing. She started there in September 2007, just as social media really started to explode.

According to Wikipedia, Twitter had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007, but rose to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. Additionally, Facebook announced their business pages around November of 2007.

Soraya was there to help pull the “Gray Lady” into the social media age. The key was partnering with key writers that embraced the change, while helping to educate others that needed to be convinced.

So as she evolved into the Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social-Media Marketing, leading an old school titan into the one of the most prominent names in the digital marketplace, why would she leave?

She saw her friends and other entrepreneurs around her out there building their own platforms, not just helping others. She wanted in.

Soraya talks about transitioning from an iconic building in Times Square to a single room in Brooklyn filled with developers, pizza, and creativity. After online file sharing service drop.io was bought by Facebook, that led her to her now full-time gig at Foodspotting.com.

While I don’t remember who said it or what the context was, I do remember the first time I heard about Foodspotting. The person was thinking about current trends, and “manufacturing” a product around the perfect storm of emerging trends. Those were:

- The explosive growth of smartphones
- Geolocation built into those phones
- Improved, “always with you” cameras on all those phones
- Check-in services like Foursquare
- Social networks for sharing information
- Online review sites such as Yelp
- People’s obsession with food

Combine all those elements and you have Foodspotting, a way to find your next great meal. In a city of 18,000 restaurants, New York City residents crave direction on where to go and what to order.

By using the service, users can find great meals, not just great restaurants, and discover them by viewing “food porn” … glorious photos of sushi and Kobe burgers and pancakes dripping with syrup, as opposed to text reviews of lazy waiters.

Our conversation later turned to a topic I had asked her about in a presentation… how to deal with social media fatigue. I mean, after all, once we get people off the phone to come to dinner, and they text someone, check in on Foursquare, view the score of the game, send off an email, and post a tweet… now they have to take out their camera and take a photo to upload to Foodspotting?

She responded that there are basically two solutions…

1) Social media sites will become more niche.
Photographers will gravitate to Instagram, location and badge junkies will be on Foursquare, and those craving the latest news will be on Twitter. She feels the target of those passionate about great dining will end up on Foodspotting.

2) Move away from feeling you HAVE to post, to what you WANT to read and share
There are lots of social media networks, but you don’t have to be on them all. Sure, people in the industry should know about them and check them out. Hence the rapid adoption of Google+. But that doesn’t mean you need to post to ALL networks ALL the time.

Soraya now finds herself posting fewer items per day, fewer times per week, and is favoring Tumblr over Twitter, and Foodspotting over Facebook. Use the network that matches your goals.

You can find her at Foodspotting | Twitter | Tumblr

Again, for the full interview, I highly recommend giving it a listen:
- Play it below:

Jim interviews Byron Bennett, owner of a NYC chocolate shop about how a small business uses Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, Websites, and his experience with Groupon.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

It’s one thing for media companies to be on social media, but lately I’ve been fascinated with how small businesses are doing this. I met with Byron Bennett, the owner of The Chocolate Library, a small-business in Manhattan’s East Village and we discuss the challenges he faces.

Besides, he just happened to bring along some of his amazing inventory of chocolates from around the world. He tells me that 97% of people enjoy chocolate.

Count me in as one of them.

Summary of Topics covered:

BACKGROUND
- Byron’s background at a wine store before he started this business
- Why wine stores and supermarkets need a kiosk to help shoppers
- The similarities between wine and chocolate
- The effect of luxury goods during a recession
- The story behind the “library” classification in his store, and how he ended up on The New York Times.

SOCIAL MEDIA
- His store’s presence on Facebook
- Why he choses NOT to run his own Twitter page
- Why Google Local and Yelp are so important to small businesses
- His goal of ranking for the word “chocolate”
- The advantage QR codes have for retaining customers

GROUPON CASE STUDY
Just a few days before our interview, Techcrunch ran a story titled “Groupon Was The Single Worst Decision I Have Ever Made As A Business Owner.’ This made me even more curious to talk about his experience.

What did Byron learn? Listen to the podcast to hear about:

- The 2 other group buying services he used before trying Groupon
- His goal of reducing inventory — and the pitfalls of mismanaging that for small businesses
- The average transaction for his store — and whether or not the Groupon test exceeded that
- Whether or not the program attracted NEW customers to his location
- What type of businesses are better suited for Groupon and Living Social deals

- Bottom line — Is it worth it for a small business to try Groupon?

Today I interview Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn and self-published author of the religious thriller, Pentecost.

- Download the podcast via iTunes
- Download the podcast to your computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

For the full interview — a must-listen for anyone wanting to self-publish their own book — please listen to the podcast.

Summary of Topics covered:

Joanna’s amazing journey
Joanna Penn has had quite an amazing journey from the UK and a Theology major at Oxford (hence the religious thriller), all the way to New Zealand and Australia, and now back to the UK.

As a full-time IT employee, she started her writing career with non-fiction books such as How To Enjoy Your Job and the basic ways of marketing.

She once tried to do the full-time author route and take an extended period of time off in order to write “The Great American (Australian?) Novel,” and tried signing on with traditional publishers, but it didn’t pan out.

Intrigued with the rise of digital publishing, print-on-demand, and using social media as a marketing platform, she started a blog and podcast called The Creative Penn. Joanna immersed herself in everything going on in the industry, and became a trusted source for information, while also interviewing dozens of authors.

One recent post broke down the current publishing landscape into four quadrants:

Eventually, her writing solution was to go to her employer and reduce her workweek to 4 days per week, freeing up more time to work on her religious thriller, Pentecost.

Joanna then takes us through …

8 steps needed to self-publish a book

1. Choose your topic
Joanna always wanted to write fiction, and got her inspiration in Venice at the Pentecost dome at St. Marks.
Pro tip: All the top authors think in terms of a series… building a story around a character that readers can follow from story to story. Hook ‘em once, and they’re you’re audience for many books to come.

2. Editing
Joanna stressed the importance of hiring a pro editor. Yes, you can go through your own work, but you’ll miss something.
Pro tip: Release chapters and ideas out to your readers… they’ll help you out, feel involved, and become your biggest fans.

3. Design
Book cover design is very important. Joanna used a freelancer at Thebookdesigner.com.
Pro tip: Once again, crowdsouce. Joanna posted several versions of her book cover online and let her readers vote. The winner surprised her, but was rated most favorable by a margin of 20%.

4. Formatting
Getting the book into the right format can be a pain… pay someone to do it.
Pro tip: Check out Smashwords.com.

5. Upload your book go Amazon
Head to Kdp.amazon.com… it’s free to to upload in Kindle format, and your book will be live in 24 hours!
Pro tip: The Kindle has the largest marketshare of eBooks

6. Pricing
Joanna started her book out at $2.99, the average price for indie books and based on a lot of research by excellent author/blogger Joe Konrath.
Pro tip: She dropped the price to 99 cents because her goal was to get the biggest audience with her first book, not make the most money. Sales took off.

7. Tracking sales
Two keys to success on Amazon are reviews and sales. The book rose to #2 in religious fiction, #2 in action adventure, and #300 overall.
Pro tip: Once Amazon’s algorithm gets involved it will start recommending the book to other buyers

8. Marketing an eBook on Amazon
As any good marketer knows, its good to be everywhere. She has the following:
- Website
- Podcast
- Blog Interviews
- Twitter
- Trying for awards
- Appearing on TV
- Public speaking
- And a book trailer

Pro tips:
- Her favorite marketing avenue is on Twitter: @TheCreativePenn
- Don’t spend too much money on traditional advertising
- Check out Kindle Nation Daily, which Joanna used, with sponsorships for $99 to $299

Final Summary:
- Success breeds success. Do well on Amazon, get good reviews, get good rankings, and it becomes a snowball effect.
- Write a good book. All the marketing in the world won’t help if the product is sub-par. Put in the effort.
- This is a new reality: It’s a bit of hard work, but everyone can do this.

Also see:
Joanna also interviewed me on Skype video for HER blog. Here’s how it went.

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