April 23, 2009 Posted by alan jones

Internet Explorer 8: the unfaithful ex-girlfriend

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer IE 8 showing up now is like an unfaithful ex-partner showing up a long time after you’ve found someone better looking and less likely to break your heart. Wrote this post after Amnesia Razorfish asked me to write about IE8, for Microsoft’s http://microsoft.com.au/ie8debate. You can find other opinion-leaders and read their leading opinions there (warning:... read more

April 6, 2009 Posted by alan jones

About the bottom of your emails

If you’re going to be wasting bytes by putting all that fine print at the bottom of your emails, at least be honest and do try to be funny. Here’s how: Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. After you’ve printed it, please consider the environment again. The environment thanks you for your consideration. The information contained in this email and any attachment is... read more

June 24, 2008 Posted by alan

Can crowds create brands as well as the pros?

    NameThis.com – prone to gaming? Originally uploaded by thatjonesboy For a few moments, I loved the idea of using crowdsourcing to brainstorm new brand names, business names and taglines on namethis.com. The website for the business behind this, kluster.com, is the coolest I’ve seen in months, and everything from the front page to the jobs page has more sharply-defined character than a... read more

May 22, 2008 Posted by alan

Mum’s the words

I’ve written before about the importance of developing great elevator pitches and business narratives, and about how often the best ones come from your customers, not your marketing team. In the last week I was privileged to observe a group of passionate, involved customers do exactly this for Clay Cook, entrepreneur, angel investor and founder of Minti.com, an online support and advice community for... read more

May 13, 2008 Posted by alan

Getting right to the bones of a business story

Stephen Sammartino, founder of Rentoid.com, has a great article in Anthill magazine on the importance of good story-telling in business and the article is available online for free. Blogs are about quick snippets, so here’s the upshot: practice, practice and more practice separates you and I from the great business story tellers of our age (Stephen uses Steve Jobs as a great example – have you... read more

April 18, 2008 Posted by alan

Got a moment? You’ll love this story…

When I meet startups, I often talk about the importance of “company narratives” – the stories that a company creates and retells to create its oral history, strengthen and refine its culture, and celebrate its heroes. In part, this is a story about the company narrative that is at the centre of a cool little business: Johnny Cupcakes. Oh, and it’s also a story about why your company... read more