The Hot Iron

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Goodbye MyWay.com Hello iGoogle

After much deliberation, I have replaced MyWay.com with iGoogle.  As I lamented previously, MyWay, a news and information portal, replaced their highly-functional stock portfolio system with a widget from Scottrade.  As a result, the ability to manage multiple lists of stock and funds went away for a Flash object that forces you to scroll rather to seeing everything at once.  This move, plus the fact they did not inform users and a general lack of innovation over the years forced me to look elsewhere.  As comments to my original post show, I was not alone.

Here’s a screenshot of the top of my old MyWay page:

And here’s a screen shot of the top of my new iGoogle page:

I was always aware of iGoogle as I have a Google account.  However my initial reaction to it when it launched a while back was to not drink anymore Google Kool-Aid than I had to!  With MyWay’s move, I decided to give it another, objective look, and I liked what I saw.  I was able to configure iGoogle with news sources and categories of information as I had with MyWay, and then some.  The portfolio feature I lost with MyWay I was able to restore with iGoogle.

iGoogle allows a user to add a “gadget” which can be news headlines, sports scores, RSS feeds, games, et. al.  There were gadgets for headlines from newspapers like the Chicago Tribune as well as international media sources.  You can even develop your own gadgets for potential inclusion.  You can also customize the presentation of information with themes.  I haven’t experimented with themes much as I was focused on content, and there’s still a lot of widgets for me to look into.

If you use MyWay, I recommend taking a look at iGoogle.  I still have my MyWay account, and will probably hold on to it for a while as a backup.

Friday, June 27, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book The Venture Cafe

As the saying goes, it takes money to make money.  This is something I learned first-hand when I started my own business, Dunkirk Systems, LLC, several years ago.  In my case, I bootstrapped my business – used savings as well as revenues to grow and expand my business.  It has worked for me as it fits the size and scope of my business.  But bootstrapping isn’t for everyone, and not just people who don’t have money to invest in a business.  Some business ideas require a large amount of cash for research and manufacturing, and this is where venture capital can come into play.

Venture capital, or VC, is a large part of the story of the book The Venture Cafe by Teresa Esser.  It is a non-fiction piece about entrepreneurs and those with business or product ideas and how they go about taking those ideas forward.  The notion of a cafe stems from the author’s experience with a pub on the campus of MIT in Cambridge, MA where people with gather to talk thru various business and technology ideas.  The book follows the path from idea to established companies, and throughout are interviews with people at various stages themselves, including the author’s own personal stories.

My greatest takeaway from the book is you cannot do it alone.  Whether you need financial or human capital or merely cheerleaders on the sidelines, to grow and be a true business you need resources that will surely go beyond yourself.  This can be hard for some who are, using a term I commonly use, control-freak entrepreneurs.  It is not letting go, it is empowering others.  And things may not go exactly as you have planned, especially when using other people’s money.

An equally important takeaway is accountability, to everybody including the investors to employees to you.  Investors want to know how and why their money is being spent, and if they will make a profit or not.  This may mean making hard, unpopular decisions, but to pursue the goal and move forward, they have to be made.

A final takeaway is that you may fail.  Where another saying says failure is not an option, it can happen, and if it does, you need to react to it.  One example in the book is about an executive who loses everything, yet in his next opportunity he excels to an extreme.  Recovering from this failure, or bouncing back, shows the true mettle of a person.

I enjoyed The Venture Cafe, especially for someone who was living in the Boston area around the time it was written.  Many of the people and companies were ones I was familiar with.  Though it was published in 2002 and talks much of the dot-com bust of that period, many of the stories and lessons learned from it apply today.  And as much as the book is about VC, it does not profess it is the only way to go, and provides takes of those who chose VC and those who did not for their business.  I recommend this book for anyone who may want to reminisce about the past, and learn from it to empower the future.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Start Somewhere With Web Analytics

Do you know how many hits your Web site gets?  Is this question something you even think about?

There are a lot of moving parts to a Web site, from technology to content to usability to whether or not the Web site is even up and running.  Even if you are working with a trusted partner such as Dunkirk Systems, LLC, for the business owner or stakeholder it can be overwhelming the amount you need to be cognizant of with regards to your Web site.

One aspect of a Web site commonly placed lower on the priority list is Web analytics, or the review and analysis of traffic to your Web site.  Analytics involves the number of hits on Web pages, the cluster of those hits called a visit, whether the visit is new or returning, when and how long the visitor was at your Web site, how they navigated the Web site, how did they come about your Web site and with what computer and browser.

If the preceding paragraph did not overwhelm you, congratulations!  The above is a lot to digest, but you realized its importance.  If you previously had not thought much about analytics, you may be wondering where to start.

My recommendation on Web analytics is to start on a basic level.  First, reacquaint yourself with your system for viewing and analyzing this information.  It may be available from a number of sources.  Most all Web hosting companies offer some form of analytics, from raw Web log files (where hits to your Web site are recorded) to a Web-based interface to review the information captured in these files.  Even if you Web host offers this, you may have available to you services for analysis, such as Google Analytics, which are third-party services that collect Web hit information based on a small piece of code added to each Web page that is not viewable to the Web user.

Now that you have your Web analytics software in front of you, take a look at the basic or “dashboard” information.  This is typically what you see when you first log into the analytics Web site.  Now peruse through this information.  Take a look at the various reports, whether in tables or graphs, and familiarize yourself with what is presented.  At first it may not mean much.  However over time and repeated review of this information, you will get a feel for how people use your Web site.

The accompanying graphic with this post is an example of part of a dashboard report for a real Web site I manage and whose name I am purposely not stating at this time.  Note there is a huge spike in traffic in the reporting period.  I show this example as you may have similar occurrences with your own Web site, and with a better understanding of your analytics, you’ll be able to better understand why this happened, as I did with this Web site.

Continued review of your Web analytics will help you recognize the utilization of your Web site, understand the effectiveness of content and information presented on it and guide you in decision making in how you update and change your Web site.  This task also has some complexity to it, but it is helped by understanding the numbers.  And to do so, you need to start somewhere.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Controlling Your Destiny Or Controlling As Much Of It As Possible

Are you in complete control of your destiny?  Or in control of it as much as you possibly can be?  By asking these I am not trying to cause panic or confusion!  Rather I am engaging a conversation about choices we make on a day-to-day basis.

The catalyst for this thought topic was issues I have recently encountered with various vendors, both in my business and personal life.  In some cases they failed to deliver products or services they were obligated to.  Other times it was their mere responses or actions that caused me concern they may fail or flounder in delivery.  As a result, not only did I get an uneasy feeling, but I then needed to devote time to thinking through the scenario and defining a strategy to react to it.

On the positive side, we sometimes make decisions knowing they are in the best interest in the short term, and eventually may make moves that are best in the long term.  One example is outsourcing.  If we do not have the capital or human bandwidth to take on something ourselves, we may outsource all or part of the task to a person or company.  This can allow us to take on, say, a new client and offer the services now that we eventually will take on ourselves and continue in the offering.

Good or bad, we need to have an understanding of these situations, which can be considered our destiny.  Rather than dropping everything I have planned to do so I am tackling this issue methodically.  In evaluating contracts and relationships, I am looking at what I have, what alternatives there are, and how I would be able to make a switch.  Taking it a level further, I am looking at the cost of making the switch, and at what point it makes sense to do so.  Some of these changes are straightforward and others are rather complex, however it is a necessity to plan for these in advance. Going forward, I will keep this in mind as I make business and personal decisions.

Like any choice we make, sometimes we make it despite potential risks involved, especially if our choice is to do something or not do it at all.  As I think about these or face such decisions, look for my reactions here at The Hot Iron.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Happy Flag Day

June 14 is Flag Day in the US.  It celebrates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777, and later became a nationally recognized day.  More information about the day’s history can be found in this Wikipedia article on Flag Day.

Today I will be joining members of the Chicago chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution, or DAR, in handing out flags to people along Michigan Avenue.  The DAR is a historic organization of women who can trace their ancestry to the Mayflower or the American Revolution.  My lovely wife is a member, and thus that makes me a Husband of a Daughter of the American Revolution, or HODAR.  With a title like that, how could I not participate?

Happy Flag Day, a day in honor of not only a great national symbol, but also one of the best known brands in the world.

Friday, June 13, 2008

“Master Entrepreneur” Moniker A Great Signpost Along My Business Journey

For several months now, selected blog posts from this blog, The Hot Iron, have been republished on the Business blog of Ashworth University.  It features posts from its students, faculty and people around the globe in various disciplines.  I was honored to be asked to be included as a guest writer.  Reading the blog on a regular basis, I am among a company of excellent thinkers and writers.

One of my recent posts on choices made at Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge, MA was posted on the blog this week.  They made a slight change to the title, and it reads, “Master Entrepreneur Mike Maddaloni Asks: Should Entrepreneurs Reach Out To Their Customers For Help?” My initial reaction – wow!

Thanks to the people at Ashworth for this great compliment.  I have often said everyday I learn something new about running a business – some things are better than others.  As this is a on-going venture, it truly is a journey, and I consider these kind words a great signpost along this journey.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Silicon Prairie Social on July 10 in Chicago Suburbs

I just got word from Tim Courtney the next Silicon Prairie Social will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, IL.

This is the next in what has turned out to be a successful series of quality tech networking event for the western suburbs of Chicago. The event is free, though you must register, and registration is now open.  Check out the Web site for full details.

For those in the tech community in the burbs, it is a must attend, and as well for those of us in the city - as we are all part of the greater Chicagoland tech community.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Art Institute Portrait Made With Jelly Belly Beans

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Jelk’s Coffee Tasting

After I reviewed Joffrey’s Coffee a few weeks back, I was contacted by the folks at Jelk’s Coffee who offered me a sample of their coffee.  As my demand for coffee has not changed, and I am always up for trying new things, I took them up on their offer.

As I mentioned I like stronger coffees, they sent me a whole pound of their Louisiana Blend.  It is described on their Web site as their “house blend with a twist-darker roasted so this spicy tasting beverage is a true connoisseurs’ coffee.” As I would never say I have a delicate palate (ask my wife) a coffee has to be over the top with flavor for me to consider it spicy.  So I put it to the test, and I had enough of the pre-ground coffee to load up my Cuisinart Grind and Brew for a week.

Verdict – I liked it.  It had a bold taste but overly strong or bitter.  It has a smooth finish and no aftertaste, a bad byproduct of some of the stronger coffees I have had.  It also has sufficient caffeine and kept me running through the week!

Jelk’s has a whole line of traditional roasts and flavored coffees, as well as Southern-style sauces and all kinds of food products and accessories.  Thanks to the folks at Jelk’s for a week of tasty fuel!

Thursday, June 05, 2008

MyWay.com Drops Own Portfolio For Something That Doesn’t Work From Scottrade

MyWay.com, or MyWay for short, is a Web-based personal portal.  It was launched several years ago and later became part of Barry Diller’s Internet empire.  When it was launched, it competed head-to-head with MyYahoo!  The idea was MyWay would not serve pop-up advertising as MyYahoo! was starting to do.  This attracted me to the service and I have used it as my home page since, even though its feature set has remained stagnant.

That set of features took a hit this week with the shutdown of its stock portfolio feature.  I found out about this the hard way – I simply noticed it was gone.  In its place was a Flash widget-like box, as shown below:

I looked around my MyWay page and clicked the “my portfolio” link at the top of the page.  There was my list of stock tickers, with this message:

(its text - We are sorry. As of June 1st, My Way will no longer be supporting the Portfolio feature.  We apologize for the inconvenience. Click here for more information about the new My Way Money page. - The My Way Team)

After clicking on the message (there was not a visible link) I got this message:

(its text - My Way is pleased to announce that we will be collaborating with Scottrade, one of the leading online brokerage firms and market research providers, on our new Money channel. Many of the features on the My Way Money page will now redirect to charts, graphs and information provided by Scottrade. As of June 1st, however, we will no longer be able to support the Portfolio feature.  We are confident that our new and exciting partnership with Scottrade will provide you with convenient access to some of the most accurate, detailed and useful financial tools available on the Web.  - The My Way Team)

Not knowing what to do, I tried to enter stock ticker but nothing showed up.  Instead, ironically, pop-up windows with pages from Scottrade’s Web site appeared after a few minutes.  One was of its home page, the other a page to look up tickers, which did not work.  I was using Firefox 2 and did not try it in another browser.

That was yesterday, and today, the Flash widget is gone, and in its place is this message:

(its text - Sorry – We’re experiencing technical difficulties with Scottrade Stock Watchlist.  We are currently looking into it.  Please check back soon.)

It’s one thing if MyWay decided to partner with Scottrade, but do it right!  Inform people of the change, don’t just remove it and hope people will find a link to it (I never use any other portfolio features of MyWay).  As Scottrade is guided by all kinds of SEC regulations, do I have to open a Scottrade account now?  And what about a migration of my tickers, or do I have to re-enter them?  I only have a few so it would not take too long, but I need to know either way.

Perhaps its time to move on and find a replacement service – maybe iGoogle or even look at MyYahoo! again.  MyWay surely isn’t doing it the way I would.  And how about the irony of my fortune, displayed below the widget?