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
- 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”
“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.”
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.”
Are you a well-rounded person? Maybe you shouldn’t be.
I had the chance to read a book called StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath, and the entire book can be summed up with one theory: People spend too long trying to improve their weaknesses, when they should be capitalizing on their strengths.
Listen to the podcast for the full review, but here are my highlights:
How I found out about the book
Love when this happens:
- Co-worker walked in with it, and it sounded familiar
- Then I remembered that the Internet Business Mastery guys had talked about it, and I had it in the back of my mind to check it out
- Of all people, my hand therapist perked up when I mentioned it, as it was required reading for all the employees at her business
- When I walked in to Barnes and Noble, there it was prominently being displayed – at 30% off
2) The second is the continuation of “old school” media such as newspapers and publishers trying to monetize their products as web and digital tablets evolve. Check out this interesting article, which shows that magazines like the Atlantic are already moving beyond phase one of the tablet era (replicate your publication for the iPad) and into phase two, which could be an HTML5-based freemium model with upsells:
3) The third is that Y Combinator keeps cranking out cool startups that are taking advantage of emerging trends, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to sit down with several of them to discuss their vision. Today is no different.
I sat down with Jeremy Mims, co-founder of Ownlocal, who is actually on his second venture-backed startup. OwnLocal makes a suite of products for local businesses to succeed online, a byproduct of which is making newspapers and other publications considerably more money.
We discuss:
- Jeremy’s background and how he got to his point
- How he got connected with Y Combinator
- The challenges of reaching local small businesses
- How he structures partnerships
- What kind of investors he’s had
- How a local hardware store could sell more hammers
- And finally, time travel
So go ahead and listen to the podcast on this page or from iTunes, or read the full transcript 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
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.
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.
When it comes to resolutions, everyone makes a big deal around New Years Day.
But what about the six month mark? The halfway point? 188 days in as I post this.
How many people revisit their goals and take a look at where they are heading?
So this week is going to be a bit different. Sure, it could be because we’re coming off a long weekend (4th of July) and I’m heading into a long weekend (Friday day off).
And it could be because I often read blogs that step back every few posts and talk about real life.
So today I’m going to bypass social media, interviews, and marketing speak, and get back to basics.
Because if you don’t take a step back and evaluate things once in awhile, you’re not going to perform at peak output when it’s time to tackle that next project. I was going to call this “14 key words for entrepreneurs,” but I think it is true for everyone. So whether you are burnt out at your job, have social media fatigue, or are thrilled to be starting a new project, check out:
14 Words to Live By (In groups of two)
(Listen to the podcast for my full discussion on each topic)
Eat Right
If you picture your body as a finely-tuned car, then you need to put the right fuel in to perform. This isn’t about going on a diet. It’s about taking the extra step and making healthy choices. If you can avoid super-sizing and choose the salad over fries once in awhile, it will add up.
I also urge you to get out of new habits and try new foods, and make time to plan long meals with friends and truly savor good food, instead of plopping down in front of the TV and wolfing down a Hot Pocket.
Let’s face it. We all have PLENTY of ways to meet other people ONLINE.
What we really need are more ways to meet people socially — in real life.
- Studies show that up to 80% of jobs are found through networking.
- Salespeople have long known that face-to-face meetings are crucial. People like to buy from people they like and people they’ve met.
- While online dating has exploded and the chances of meeting your soulmate in a bar after 2am dwindle, the sweet spot of putting yourself in social situations with people you have things in common with is a pretty good option.
- And finally, if we all don’t stop spending 12 hours a day staring at some kind of screen, a little bit of our soul gets lost.
That’s what makes GrubWith.Us, a new service that is using the power of the web and social media to get people interacting over great meals, so interesting.
![[del.icio.us]](http://thehopkinsonreport.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://thehopkinsonreport.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://thehopkinsonreport.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Reddit]](http://thehopkinsonreport.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://thehopkinsonreport.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
Comments Off 
by Tom Rath, and the entire book can be summed up with one theory: People spend too long trying to improve their weaknesses, when they should be capitalizing on their strengths.
On this week’s podcast, I spoke with Nick Gammell, the CEO and Founder of 
