Open up your mind and say, ahh...

For her upcoming 30th birthday, actress Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Couples Retreat) is doing something pretty cool.  As a birthday present in her honor, Ms. Bell, who will turn 30 on July 18, 2010, is asking her friends and fans alike for the same gift: to make a donation to MyCharityWater.org.  Her goal is to raise at least $100,000 over the next 3 months for the cause.

The purpose of MyCharityWater is to fund “clean water projects in developing countries”.  100% of the received donations will be used for funding the projects.  If you wish to make a donation, you may either do so anonymously, or you may have your name and the amount of your gift shown on the donations list on Kristen’s main page.  A suggested donation of $30 is listed, but you may donate any amount, as little as $1.  So far, she has raised over $1500 – and she’s only been at it 6 hours.

Photo Credit

LifeCell Project is 501c3 non-profit organization that recycles small electronics to help buy LifeStraws – revolutionary personal
water filters – for the nearly 1 billion people on Earth who don’t have access
to clean water.

Here are two quick facts:

• Every day, 6000 people, mainly children, die from drinking unsafe water.

• At the same time, hundreds of thousands of cell phones get tossed into landfills each day, where they release toxins into the environment.

Through their efforts, they seek to address both crises at the same time. Giving life, from old cells – The LifeCell Project. Its a novel proposition.

Julien shows me new things all the time. In a recent post, he talked about MovNat as something to go along with the Paleo diet (something I’m on, also thanks to Julien). In checking out the website, I had an interesting realization: as much as I wanted to learn about the ideas inherent in what was different or augmenting between MovNat and Paleo, what really happened was that I scanned the page, saw the guy in the tree at the top, slid down the page to the bottom-right area, and my eyes hooked on the video offerings. I immediately pressed those buttons to see the videos.

Video as a Call to Action is Powerful

Now, as a marketer, this is just me saying, “the most likely call to action I saw was to click those videos.”

I’ve gone back a few times, and frankly, I don’t see the most obvious call-to-action if that’s not it. Meaning, video on the page is the most visually motivating thing the site offers.

How are you using video?

So, the question/lesson: are you using video as a motivator? Second question: is video distracting people from a more powerful call to action? Can you do both? (My vote is yes, as evidenced by Man on the Go).

If you’re not already doing video for your site, I strongly recommend it. It doesn’t have to be amazing. It might still draw our attention if it’s just plain useful.

Thoughts?

I’m thinking about skills and how important some skills are for the rest of our lives.

In the summer of my eighth grade year, my parents sent me to typing school. We were going to get our first Macintosh computer (*the* first Macintosh), and my folks had the foresight to say that they wanted me to learn typing before having it. My brother was told the same thing, but he kind of blew off the classes, and spent the entire summer typing the funniest possible things to me while I struggled to keep my fingers on the F and the J keys. Without my brother, I wouldn’t have made it through the tedium of typing, so even though he didn’t learn the skill, his sacrifice got me to where I am.

I type really fast. In the rare times when I’m at an office space for a while, cubicle mates almost always swing by to see if I’m pretending or something. I guess when you type fast, you type loudly. I never hear it, because when I’m typing fast, I’m concentrating.

The thing is: this has gone on to give me a huge advantage over those who can only peck out a few letters at a time and have to stare down at the keys to do so. I am far more proficient, which means that I can get my ideas across much faster. In the real-time web world, that’s obviously a win. But even in the “slow web” world, it’s still a powerful thing to be able to type.

What other skills could I learn that would help me for the rest of my life? Journalists learn how to tell balanced and detailed stories. They learn how to edit down their ideas to tight, concise pieces. Lawyers learn how to weigh potential risks and outcomes. Athletes learn perseverance.

What other skills do you wish that YOU had when considering the rest of your life?

(Oh, and thanks Mom and Dad for insisting that I take typing, and thanks, Thom, for screwing off and making me laugh instead.)

Photo credit wiertz

If you want to hire people to do a job, to be cogs in the system and to do what they’re told, you might want to focus on people who don’t think very highly of themselves.

People with low self esteem might be more happy to be bossed around, timed, abused, misused and micromanaged, no?

And the converse is true as well. If you want to raise your game and build an organization filled with people who will change everything, the first thing to look for is someone who hasn’t been brainwashed into believing that they’re not capable of great work.

A harried teacher might find it easier to teach a class to obey first and think second, but is that sort of behavior valuable or scarce now?

Industries that need to subjugate women or demonstrate power over one class of person or another are always on the lookout for people they can diminish. Our task, then, is to find people we can encourage and nurture until they’re as impatient with average as we are.

The paradox is that the very people that are the easiest to categorize, to command and to dominate are the last people we want to work with.

For twenty years, the Billboard charts were easy to manipulate. By paying radio stations and some retailers, record labels could push an act to the top 40, which would increase sales. People liked buying what they heard on the radio, and the radio played what they thought people were buying.

Billboard changed their methods about twenty years ago, and overnight the acts on the list changed. Suddenly, it became clear that what we were listening to wasn’t what we thought it was, and as a result, the marketing of music changed forever.

The New York Times bestseller list is even more easily manipulated than Billboard ever was. It doesn’t cost much to scam it and it’s pretty straightforward to buy your way onto the list (I know authors who have done this and consultants who sell this service.) You can hire a bunch of old ladies who will go into the ‘right’ stores and buy books on the right day. As a result of this distortion, the books on the list get more promoted, and thus sell more copies. It’s not pretty but it’s true. The Times is well aware that this is going on, that the list isn’t accurate, but they persist in publishing lists that are demonstrably wrong. (I still find this amazing, but it’s true).

Manipulating social networks is easier still. There are firms that manipulate which stories are posted and which blogs are linked to, and for years there are firms that have worked to manipulate which links come up higher on the search results as well. As these signposts become more, not less, important, there’s a significant market opportunity for someone who can, as Billboard did, clean up the charts and make the payola worthless or at least more transparent. In the meantime, be skeptical.

Netflix has just signed a deal with Relativity Media to bring major theatrical releases exclusively to Netflix subscribers during the first-run window usually relegated to premium cable channels like HBO or Showtime. This is a big win for Netflix and its Watch Instantly service, as it positions it as an even stronger competitor to traditional and premium cable.

Relativity Media is an independent film studio that often co-finances films with Universal Pictures, Lionsgate and Columbia Pictures. Some of its more recent productions or co-productions include Zombielandzombieland, Brothers and MacGruber.

The first pictures that will be covered under the deal include The Fighter and Skyline. The Fighter stars Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams and is set for a December theatrical release. Skyline is also expected to be released in theaters this year. Both films should be available on Netflix in early 2011.

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The Sordid Saga of Licensing Movies for Online Streaming

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If you aren’t familiar with some of the inner workings of the film industry, here’s a basic primer of the current system. After a film is released in theaters, it is then released on DVD/Blu-ray and depending on the studio and the viewing window, to Pay-Per View, Redbox or Video-on-Demand. After the new-release window ends, bigger films go into what is called the first-run window, where they are then available on a premium cable channel like HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc. After this window, films are then dribbled down to basic cable, network television and so on.

Although Netflix’s Watch Instantly library is growing all of the time, one area where it really falls short is in new releases. This is not the case with Netflix’s DVD and Blu-ray rental-by-mail service, however. Netflix has a vast catalog of Watch Instantly films, but most of them are older releases and the most up-to-date content is usually by way of television, which is easier to license for more recent viewing.

The big exception in this area has been with Starz. Netflix was able to procure a deal with Starz to get movies (or Starz original broadcasts) as soon as they come to Starz subscribers. While Starz doesn’t have the first-run deals of the largest premium cablers like HBO, it does have some exclusive deals with Disney/Pixar and with a lot of Sony films.

Because Starz retained ownership of how it licensed its content digitally (that is, over the Internet), the company was then able to license that content to Netflix, giving Netflix access to its first-run content. It was a brilliant run around the system. Unfortunately, it also made the major studios pretty unhappy.

The current Starz deal expires in 2012 and it won’t be the same in the future. Instead, studios are now building more digital licensing agreements into their contracts with the premium cable outlets to avoid a Netflix-Starz scenario from happening again.

The only recourse for Netflix is to make deals directly with the studios, which is exactly what is happening with Relativity Media.

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Death to Cable?

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Netflix signing a first-run exclusivity agreement with a mid-sized studio like Relativity Media is a big deal. It’s a sign that Netflix’s subscriber base of more than 13 million members is worth catering to. It’s also a sign that, at least for some studios, eschewing the traditional system and going straight to a digital service operator — rather than a premium cabler — might be worth experimenting with.

As more consumer electronics devices either offering or coming with built-in support for Netflix, this avenue could become even more attractive to studios as time moves forward.

Yet it’s important to put things in perspective. HBO has more than 40 million subscribers in the U.S. alone, its international offerings are much more robust than Netflix’s and it has long-standing first-run deals with many of the major studios. Likewise, both Showtime and Starz have more subscribers than Netflix.

However, Netflix offers something that the other outlets don’t: convenience. While premium content from networks like HBO are available online via different cable operators, these systems vary from cable company to cable company. Additionally, Netflix is now on the iPad and will soon be on the iPhone.

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Sign of the Future

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Even if the Netflix/Relativity Media deal ultimately has little impact on what films are available to Watch Instantly on Netflix, this is a sign that the industry is finally willing to look past the traditional cable company/premium channel paradigm and embrace digital distribution and subscription services.

If nothing else, this is a sign that the cable industry needs to step it up and start embracing digital distribution and online streaming. Customers may still cancel cable, opting instead of things like Hulu Plus and Netflix Watch Instantly, but an easy way to avoid some of that churn would be to make it easy to access content from the couch, the computer and on the go.

The studios are willing to bypass the system and take things directly to digital delivery. Will the rest of the industry follow suit?

What do you think about the Netflix deal and what it means for the future of digital distribution for first-run feature films?

There’s an implicit pressure on social media enthusiasts to be connected in more than one way. It’s not enough to have a Facebookpage, you need a Twitter account as well. What do you mean you’re not on LinkedIn ? Well, at least you have a blog on WordPress or Tumblr, right?

There is no requirement to spread your digital self thin, but many of us are still juggling more than one online profile (I’m currently balancing at least five). Each of these profiles offers us a chance to connect with new communities in different ways, but each network needs to be managed and updated. With so many online profiles, questions are bound to arise. Is your bio page the same across all platforms? Should it be?

There are few hard and fast rules when navigating social media; a lot comes down to preference. For those starting out or just looking to make sense of their profiles, we’ve culled advice from five social media experts in a range of backgrounds. Mashable’s given you ways to create your brand, face the challenges, track your reputation, and corral your profiles on the social web. Now, here are five ways to manage, consolidate, and clean up your online identity.

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1. Keep it Consistent

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One of the best things you can do is to make sure your profiles are consistent. This includes your bio page, your profile pic, and your tone of voice. “Consistency is important,” said Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Millennial Branding, “If you’re “Matt” on one site, you better be “Matt” on every other site.” That similarity can help viewers keep track of you across different platforms. Start by scooping up vanity URLs on sites like Facebook (facebook.com/ClarkKent) and Twitter (twitter.com/ClarkKent), and buying your domain name (www.ClarkKent.com). Similar fonts and font sizes can also help create a congruous online identity.

But what about your updates — how do you keep those consistent? “Using the same tone of voice will help keep the cohesion,” said Amber Naslund, Director of Community at Radian6 . “It doesn’t have to be verbatim but there needs to be a certain level of consistency,” Naslund said. “You’re assuming that [one particular social site] might be the only place they get that [information].”

Keep in mind that consistency doesn’t mean repetition. Customize your profiles and updates to align with the values and uses of each social platform, but maintain a common theme throughout.

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2. Find Your Brand

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Put some forethought into what your want your digital reputation to be and build towards that. Joshua Benton, Director of Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, highlights the importance of viewership. “You don’t want to have carbon copies because you’re talking to different audiences. Your paragraph bio on LinkedIn isn’t going to make sense on your Twitter page and neither of those is going to make sense on your Facebook page.” Benton recommends making a basic bio that can be tailored for each network. “Think about how the image you want to present sits in with the audience.”

Different networks are better for different things — it helps to cater your posts based on the audience. “Part of that is baked into the form,” Benton said. “It’s sort of hard to have a wild and crazy LinkedIn profile, whereas you can on something like MySpace .”

Whether you want to be known by your real name (recommended) or a cute buzzword, it’s important to come up with something memorable and representative of you. This advice applies to people and brands. “When you type Digsby, we are the first result,” said Steve Shapiro, CEO of Digsby . “It is important to pick a unique product name but also one that people can spell when they hear it, or they’ll never find you on Google.”

Once you’ve decided your online name and brand, try to stick with it. It’s hard to build a reputation if you keep changing. “The problem with changing your specialty every six months is that people can see what you did six month’s prior,” explained Barry Hurd, CEO and founder of 123SocialMedia. That kind of indecision can make it difficult for your audience to get a grasp on your identity.

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3. Own Your Name

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One of the best ways to track your progress is a simple Google search. “I’m conscious that I’m writing about the things I’d liked to be found for,” Naslund said. “If I’m going to post a tweet about a drunken bender with my sister from last night, it might pop up on Google.” Make sure you’re updating your social networks on news and events that you want to be known for. Part of managing your online identity is understanding your professional profiles (like LinkedIn) can very well get mixed up with personal profiles (like Facebook). “You can’t keep the peas from touching the mashed potatoes,” Naslund added. “The Internet doesn’t distinguish between profiles. That’s a human distinction, not a technical one. It all gets lumped into the same basket.”

An easy, free way to manage your name’s SEO is by getting onto popular social media sites. “Twitter accounts often pop up on the first page even if you’ve only posted three tweets,” Benton explained. “Chances are you’d rather have that and a link to your bio page than something you don’t have control over. Get on networks with good page rankings.”

Another tip for optimizing SEO is by proactively setting up inbound links between your profiles. Include links to your social profiles, such as Foursquare , Twitter, LinkedIn and Quora, on your blog. On your Twitter profile, include a link to your blog. And on Foursquare, make sure you include your Twitter profile link. If you already use multiple networks, this practice is an easy way to increase the amount of inbound links for each site. It’s a circle of links that will help optimize your Google search rankings.

The ultimate goal is to optimize your SEO so that someone should be able to search for your name and get a good idea within the first 10 results of who you are or who you’d like to be.

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4. Get a Little Help

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The good news is that you don’t have to monitor all these sites by yourself. There are a bunch of web tools that can help you track or update your entire online presence. Try using a multi-platform dashboards like Ping.fm, Tweetdeck , or Hootsuite to update your social media identity all from a central hub.

As a secondary step, if you’re interested in seeing which sites are benefiting you the most from a PR point of view, set up Google Alerts on each of your profiles. Alerts will help you keep a pulse on buzz around your name. To see which sites are most referenced, try adding small marks to your profile pics for manual tracking. Hurd suggested adding a small Facebook logo to your Facebook profile pic, for example, so you can see when your Facebook profile (along with a pic) is linked to.

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5. Human Afterall

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Out of all these tips, perhaps the most important lesson is to just be yourself. It may sound simple, but ultimately people are connecting with you because of who you are. “How people perceive you is through those interactions with your audience, not just a neat and tidy persona,” Naslund said. “People want to see the person behind the persona.”

Schawbel recommended being selective with your networks and genuinely connecting: “If your Twitter handle or Facebook page is your name, it has to come from you.”

That same sense of honesty can also be a great way to find customers. “These platforms are a huge opportunity to interact with users one-on-one,” Shapiro said. Connecting in an honest way can bring in new supporters for your product or brand.

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Final Words of Advice

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We asked our experts for a golden rule to managing your online identity. While there may not be one ruling maxim, here are some choice words of wisdom for cleaning up your social identity.

• “Commitment is really the key word,” Schawbel said. “Everyone keeps talking about passion, but commitment takes [it] into account. If you’re committed to this, you’ll succeed. Or, at least you’ll get something out of it.”
• “Be consistent with the tone and approach for all those social networks,” Naslund said. “Through all those profiles, it will feel like you. And that’s what people use social media for, to connect with a real person. Develop an identity you’re not only proud of, but can stand behind.”
• “I think you have to go into these sort of things acknowledging that compartmentalization is impossible. [It's] the same way in real life. We act one way around our parents, and one way around our boss, and one way around our friends, even if we’re still the same person,” Benton said. “Think about the image you want to present… and don’t be afraid to be human.”

What is your top tip for keeping your social identity clean and consistent?

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Series supported by Gillette

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[img credit: webtreats, granth]
Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, thesuperph