Kiva initially allowed users to lend to entrepreneurs in developing countries. However, due to the American financial crisis, the company recently extended its mandate to help US entrepreneurs gain access to micropayment loans. As millions struggle to execute on their dream projects, a number of crowd-based funding options have emerged. Below are a few of these tools.

2. Spot.Us: Spot.Us harnesses "community-powered reporting" by allowing the public to commission news stories. Filmmakers and reporters pitch the public on stories, and public donors commission their favorite story ideas. In this way, environmental organizations and under-funded advocacy groups pool their resources to collectively fund issues-based investigations. If a group wants exclusive rights to a story, they must fund at least 50% of that story's production costs.

3. SellABand: SellABand helps musicians crowdsource funding for their next albums. While Bandcamp, Amie Street and MixMatchMusic allow fans to donate after tracks have been laid down, SellABand specializes in the pre-recording phase. The service offsets the high costs of studio time and sound engineering. A number of SellABand artist albums are available on Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon US and Dutch-based Bol.com.

4. Contenture: Contenture is a micropayment service that allows content creators to monetize their sites. Users pay a monthly fee and their money is distributed to the sites they visit the most. Groups like Silicon Florist and Hashtags.org use Contenture simply by adding a line of code to their sites. In this way the most popular service members earn cash for their traffic. TipJoy also offered a micropayment tipping service to content producers; however, the company unfortunately announced plans to close a few days ago.

In addition to our 4 examples, we know there are a number of professionals who are crowdsourcing their funding efforts. From TwitPay to Tipit, let us know your favorite tools and what you're working on in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Lead image courtesy of Bradley Gordon

Now head over to the "Gadgets" section in Settings. For any of the gadgets listed below, all you have to do is enter in (or even better, copy and paste) the gadget URL provided into the box. Click "Add" and you're finished!

Twitter Gadget

The Twitter Gadget is a recent favorite of ours. Once installed, it provides a box where you can update your status, check your friends' timeline, read your replies and direct messages, and view your favorites.

Gadget URL: http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

Google Map Search

Need to look up an address which was just emailed to you? The Google Map Search lets you do so without having to leave Gmail. Just enter the location in the box provided and click "Search."

Gadget URL: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/mapsearch.xml

Facebook Gadget

Can't get enough Facebook and aren't up to installing the Xoopit Gmail plugin? Another option is the Facebook gadget which lets you get your latest Facebook notifications, check on your friends' updates, view photos, and even perform Facebook searches right within the gadget itself. The first time you install it, you'll have to authenticate with Facebook to give the gadget permission to access your account.

Gadget URL: http://www.brianngo.net/ig/facebook.xml

FriendFeed Gadget

If you're more of a FriendFeeder than Facebooker (or maybe you're both), another gadget you'll probably like is the FriendFeed gadget. This one is a Google Gadget repurposed for Gmail and it just displays your Home Feed, nothing more. There are no settings to customize and the layout hasn't been configured specifically for the small size of the Gmail sidebar. However, it is scrollable and you can "like" and comment within the gadget. If you need your FriendFeed everywhere, it's not a bad option.

Gadget URL: http://friendfeed.com/embed/googlegadget/spec

Digg Gadget

The Digg gadget lets you check out Digg's top stories within your Gmail sidebar. You can choose to just see News, Videos, or Images, or you can view all the stories. You can also use the drop-down box to pick which sub-section of stories you're interested in seeing (Technology, Politics, Science, Gaming, etc.). If you scroll over to the right, the gadget lets you access your friends list and your settings, which is, by the way, the area where you'll need to enter in your Digg username.

Gadget URL: http://digg.com/goog/ig.xml

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few other gadgets you may find of use. These aren't our personal favorites, but perhaps they will be yours:

World Clock: http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

Google Translate: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/dictionary.xml

Ask a Word (Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia): http://www.openinventions.com/spellcheck/openinventions_spellcheck.xml

Delicious Gadget: http://www.labpixies.com/campaigns/delicious/delicious.xml

MySpace Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/myspace.xml

Flickr Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/flickr.xml

Remember the Milk (Task List): http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/googleig/rtm.xml

Bit.ly URL Shortner: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml

Orkut Scrapbook: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/105297062528314471242/doomer_orkut_scrapbook.xml

Wikipedia Search: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

Google Calculator: http://calebegg.com/calc.xm

Currency Converter: http://www.ac-markets.com/forex/currencyconverter.xml

Quick Links to Google Services: http://blakewest.googlepages.com/googleservices.xml

Gmail supports iGoogle gadgets, too, so you can actually add any gadget you want. Just find your favorite gadget, click the "share this gadget" option, and then copy the URL that ends with ".xml." However, be aware that not all gadgets will look good when smashed into the Gmail sidebar.

For big Internet companies, 2009 is going to be a very bad year for sure. Advertising profits are going to plunge, and consumers will spend less money overall, particularly on the web. There is little that can be done to change that. But what big companies can do is invest in innovation and killer moves that will bear fruit in the years to follow. Here is what we think would be cool for various big web companies to do in 2009.

Despite the downturn, Google remains a lean, mean revenue-generating machine. The search king has a strong hold on this area of the web, and as soon as things get better, its revenues will go up as well. So it makes sense to invest in its next strongest assets: video and its new adventure, the web browser.

1. Integrate Web-Wide Video Search in YouTube

We recently wrote here about YouTube and its rising popularity among kids. In a couple of years, a lot of web content is going to evolve from text to video, making YouTube a much bigger asset for Google. Even today, YouTube is already the second-largest search engine on the web.

However, it is a portal featuring only user-generated content. Google should seamlessly plug its video search into YouTube and bring videos from around the web to the surface using this same user-friendly interface. This would make YouTube the destination for people searching for any video content on the web.

2. Make Firefox Extensions Compatible with Chrome

Google Chrome made a big spash when it was launched earlier this year. Surely Google's foray into the browser war is very deliberate. Chrome looks like an excellent modern browser and already has a solid base of followers. But the road to mass adoption is quite steep, even if Google promotes Chrome via its home page and makes bundling deals with computer manufacturers.

One of the things that can definitely help Chrome gain adoption is extension support. Most early adopters use Firefox these days and love the Mozilla extensions that allow them to make the browser their own. A killer move would be for Google to support Firefox extensions. This would save a whole lot of time for all developers and users and would show that Google respects the existing web eco-system.

Tips for Microsoft

Everyone knows that Google is the new Microsoft and that Microsoft is the new IBM. Ever since it lost the search war to Google, the Redmond giant has been playing an agonizing catch-up game. And it has yet to make a dent in Google's market. Perhaps its most successful recent move has been investing $250 million in Facebook, which was valued at $15 billion. But while it was a clever strategic play, there is no impressive technology here. And this is really what Microsoft needs to invest in: execution and innovation.

1. Execute Faster and Better

This problem nags large companies. Bureaucracy takes over for common sense and introduces rot. Endless meetings, hierarchies of approval, and "what if" scenarios turn any large company into a beast. Microsoft needs to fundamentally restructure its approach to delivering products: reduce the coupling between products, shrink timelines, throw away old rotten code. In short, Microsoft needs to be more like Google in order to compete with Google.

2. Innovate

Sure, Microsoft has a lot of things going on in research. But every time we hear of a new product announcement, it sounds like "Me too" envy. First, there is the rivalry with Google in search. Many people think that advertising is the killer app for the web. Sure, it is, at least today. But it does not mean that search is the only way to deliver it. Microsoft is stuck in a battle to build a better search engine, while the answer may be to deliver advertsing in a fundamentally different way.

Similarly, Amazon has made a big push into cloud computing. Microsoft followed a year later with yet another "Me too." Zune was another fiasco, an attempt to chase the beloved Apple product. The problem is that the age of "Me too" is over. The only way to own the future is to define it. Microsoft needs to truly embrace innovation in order to have a chance of coming back.

Tips for Amazon

Amazon has executed its web services play remarkably well. The company took its core infrastructure, which runs the biggest shopping store online, and turned it into a product. More importantly, Amazon's foray into web services marks the true beginning of the cloud computing era. But at the same time, strange things are happening with the store, such as advertising appearing on product pages. Amazon should continue to accelerate its web services strategy, but it also needs to go back to the store and clean up the way it looks.

1. Continue the Rapid Push into Web Services

The first-mover advantage sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Many first movers in the market are overtaken and ultimately defeated by the second comers who know how to improve on what has been done. But if the first move is brilliant (think Apple kind of brilliant), then it is becomes hard for others to keep up. Amazon has rapidly innovated in the web services market and has a very substantial lead.

Its delivery to date has been nearly perfect, and the company needs to continue to invest in its core stack. The more useful the blocks that are there, the less reason users will have to switch to something else. Cost and reliability are already there, so it boils down to adding a few more blocks and then re-focusing on customer support and enablement.

2. Simplify and Clean Up the Product Pages

Amazon pages, despite the recent cleanup, still feel so 1990s. There is just too much going on. First of all, the banner ads need to go. Sure, they make money, but it is insulting to see completely irrelevant truck ads when a user is looking at Freedman's latest book.

Secondly, the pages are difficult to read because of both the design and the amount of information on the pages. Most of the information is not needed and will not enhance transactions. Instead of geeky bar charts, give users a simple popularity indicator. People do not need to see 400 reviews; five should do. The lists promoted in the sidebar are distracting. And the list goes on; there is a lot of room for clean-up.

Tips for eBay

eBay has just not been an exciting company since the 1990s. It has not executed well, its site has not evolved, and it failed to make much of its acquisitions, such as Skype and StumbleUpon. What eBay needs to do is reinvent itself through relevant acquistions.

1. Buy Etsy

Etsy is a rapidly growing online marketplace for hand-made goods. With sustainability and green poised to be on people's minds for the next decade, hand-made is the new black. Etsy has got a stellar team behind it, a user-centric culture, and a knack for innovation. If Esty were to be unleashed on eBay's site, the user experience would likely be much more improved and fun.

2. Buy Craigslist

If one company other than Google has cracked the secret of simplicity on the web, it's Craigslist. It has discovered the most effective and simple way to do online classifieds, buy and sell things, find a job, and make a hire. Cloning the same simple service for many markets was genius, and Craigslist just nailed it. It is unclear whether they would be willing to sell, but if there is a transaction there, eBay's coolness level would shoot up high. And the revenue would likely follow, because Craigslist has been rather conservative when it comes to charging users.

Tips for Yahoo!

Yahoo! is in a really tough spot. It seems the only way out is through a focus on innovation (that is, if it really doesn't want to sell to Microsoft). First, Yahoo! needs to figure out what business it wants to be in, and then it needs to execute flawlessly in the direction it chooses.

1. Invest in Best Directions, Cut Out the Rest

Seems like a lot of internal projects were coming out of the brick house and then didn't go anywhere. The problem with incubating products, launching them, and then dropping the ball with user adoption and marketing is that it is not good for business. Take Yahoo! Shortcuts as an example: great idea, competitive space, well executed. Where is it now? Lanched in 2007, it works only on WordPress, hasn't really been promoted much, and is unlikely to go anywhere.

We see a similar pattern with acquistions. Too much time was lost getting the ball rolling with MyBlogLog and del.icio.us. The result? Momentum was lost, and so were users and opportunity. Yahoo! can't afford misses like these. Execution needs to be quick and flawless -- and relevant to the business. Yahoo! needs to assess its entire product line, pick the things to invest in, and then put both engineering and marketing dollars behind them.

2. Compete in Search

Not all is lost, especially when you are number two in the space. Sure the gap to get to number one is big, but you are only one spot away. Google attracts users with its simple user interface, speed, and relevancy. Yahoo! needs to fix the speed and relevancy of its search engine and then invest in a different user interface. I really think that the Search Monkey project is on to something. Out of all the recent innovations in the search space, this one stands out with its simple yet powerful approach.

And the recent idea to open up its search engine as a web service is great too. It just needs to be done better and faster in order to really undermine Google. Yahoo! should look to Seattle for the model of how to do this sort of thing quickly and elegantly. If Yahoo! can create a simple way for everyone to build vertical search applications, Google will surely take a hit and have to start playing catch-up.

Conclusion

2009 will surely be a tough year for everyone. Yet it is the year to revamp and invest in the future. How exactly the big web companies will execute really matters. What do you think they should be doing?

Here at RWW, we're big fans of Custom Search Engines, and we use them regularly, so it just made sense to make one from our bookmarks.

Getting Started

The first step to building a custom search engine is to go to the Google Custom Search Engine site. Building a CSE is pretty simple - just click the button on the homepage to start and then fill in the search engine details (name, description, etc.). We're not going to hold your hand through this process step-by-step - it's very straightforward and Google provides documentation on how to do this. To get through the initial setup, you'll have to include at least one URL to search (we suggest www.readwriteweb.com, of course). You can remove it later on if you would like, though.

Once the engine has been configured, click the link to go into the engine's "Control Panel." You'll be on a page with links across the top that let you manage various aspects of your engine. Click the link that reads "Sites:"

Get Your Bookmarks

Now, in a separate tab of your browser, login to your social bookmarking account (delicious, ma.gnol.ia, etc.) and export your bookmarks through the option provided in your settings.

The reason we're doing this is because, in order to proceed, we need to get all the bookmarks to appear on one page on the web, so unless your particular service offers that as an option, just proceed with the export.

Once exported, you'll need to upload your bookmarks back to the web so that they all appear on one page. If you want to post them to your blog or use a simple page creator program to do so, that's your choice. However, I found that the absolute easiest way to get them on the web fast was to use the new service from Posterous.

Posterous is a lightweight blogging service that lets you blog without even setting up an account. You just email post@posterous.com. Compose an email to that account and copy-and-paste the content from the HTML file that contains your exported bookmarks. Posterous will quickly email you back with a link to that page on the web. (This is also a handy way to back up your bookmarks, too.)

Now click the link emailed to you to go to your Posterous page on the web. You'll want to actually click the permalink to the blog post you created, for example: http://myblogname.posterous.com/my-first-blog-post-1159

Add Your Links to Your CSE

The final step is to return to the tab where your CSE control panel is loaded. Click the "Add Sites" button and a dialog box will appear. Paste in the URL (the permalink) from Posterous and choose the 3rd bullet ("Dynamically extract links from this page..."). Then choose the first bullet underneath that ("Include all pages this page links to."). Click "Save." (Now you see why I made you put all the links on one page, right?)

You're done! You can now test out your engine. If you did everything correctly, your search engine will just search through the sites you've bookmarked.

But Wait...There's One More Thing!

OK, great, you now have your own custom search engine up-and-running, but what if you want to add to it in the future? Luckily, there's an easy browser bookmarklet you can use to do so: the Google Marker. As with any bookmarklet, you simply drag it to your bookmarks toolbar to install it.

Now, when you come across a site you want to add to your search engine, you just click the bookmarklet. If you have more than one engine, you can choose the one you want from the drop-down box provided. You also have to option to bookmark either everything on that site or just the page that you're currently on. When you're done, click "Save."

There you have it - instead of bookmarking and tagging, you can just search instead.

1. Close on every call. Whether your call is by email, phone or face-to-face, have one single objective that you can close. It might be "please sign here," it might be "will you have lunch with me next Tuesday?"
2. Expect mutual effort. A sure sign of spinning your wheels is when you make all the effort and the buyer/investor does nothing. Ask them to do something to indicate some level of interest. If you don't see this, move onto the next prospect.
3. Wait until you hear the screams. If you have a fire engine, you are not needed until the house is on fire. The best sales people wait until they see a real need before applying a lot of effort. One way to judge this, of course, is via #2.
4. Two ears, one mouth. If you only learn one lesson, this is it. This is particularly hard for technically oriented entrepreneurs with a deep passion for their product. People don't buy products, they buy solutions to problems. Find the problem and show a solution based on your product. Ask lots of open-ended questions. People are much, much better at talking themselves into buying than you will ever be at talking them into buying.
5. Talk about the weather. This a lesson that I learned the hard way. Just as the buyer was about to sign, I said something that prompted a question that was critical and for which I did not have a good answer. The next day something happened, totally outside my control, that put the deal on indefinite hold. When somebody is about to sign, be quiet and if silence is uncomfortable find something banal to talk about.
6. Imagine the press conference. This is a good way to focus on the one thing that really matters to your buyer. What would the buyer tell the world about your deal? Assuming the usual attention deficit, this will be one simple point. Focus relentlessly on that one thing.
7. Recognize the emotional tipping point. Selling is a contact sport. You cannot do it by email or phone alone. Even in a long, complex sales cycle with multiple people in a decision team, there is one person who really matters and one moment when that person says to themselves, "I am going to do this." Everything before that moment is preparation and everything after is clearing due diligence.
8. Stomach knots, table banging, and other good signs. These agita moments show both parties that the negotiating is nearing the end. It reassures them that they are not leaving money on the table. Of course, good negotiators can fake it, and watching that can be pretty amusing. (Is that what we are witnessing in the on-again off-again Microsoft/Yahoo! negotiations?)
9. Don't take it personally. Look at every rejection as a learning experience. Really. Even if you think the guy was a jerk/idiot. If he is a jerk/idiot, how do you recognize jerks/idiots earlier so that you waste less time? More likely you did not do #2, #3, or #4 properly. In other words, it was not a good fit and he was not a jerk/idiot.
10. Measure face-to-face time. Biz Dev 1.0 is a contact sport. Email and phone is great for details and follow-up, but selling happens face-to-face. Always has, always will. So measure face time. But also remember #1, close on every call. Just socializing can be good to build some warmth in the relationship but my rule is that respect is essential, liking is optional.
11. Ask for the order. Fred Wilson articulated this well (and the comments are worth reading).

Even if you hire sales people to sell your product/services and M&A advisers to sell your company, some of these Biz Dev tips are likely to come in handy at some stage. Do you have any other tips? Post them in the comments.

For every roadblock to using social media at work, there is a workaround. Maybe you've been nervous to try these things because you're not sure of how much you're being monitored by I.T., your boss, or even your colleagues. You don't want to appear as if you're goofing off all day, do you? That being said, even the most diligent office drone deserves a break from time to time, and these days, those breaks often include a little brain candy in the form of social media.

If I.T. has your PC so locked down, you can't add or remove anything, you can't download anything from the internet, and you hit blocked pages all the time, then good! I.T.'s doing their job. But here's how to get around that.

Bring Your Own Browser

Just because your PC is locked down, your USB ports are probably still available. Only the most paranoid of companies use software to disable the optical drives and USB ports. If you can open files saved on a keychain USB drive, then you're in luck - you can use your ports.

At home, prepare a USB drive with the PortableApps suite. The standard edition offers a web office to go, featuring portable editions of OpenOffice, Sunbird, Thunderbird, and AV.

But most importantly, PortableApps offers portable Firefox, which we all know no social media lover can be without. Now, just like your were installing Firefox on a new computer, prepare your portable version with all the toolbars, bookmarklets, greasemonkey scripts, and add-ons that you can't live without. Once back at work, just pop in your USB drive and it will be like you've never left your home PC.

Dying for IM

If your I.T. department blocks you from installing IM, you can try Gaim Portable that came with the Portable apps you installed.

If that doesn't work, you might find that a web-based alternative like Meebo meets your needs. You can try their Firefox extension, too.

However, savvy I.T. personnel have heard of Meebo and block it on the firewall. But there are a few alternatives that they may not have blocked just yet. These include MSN Web Messenger, Yahoo! Web Messenger, AIM Express, Kool IM, ILoveIM, Mabber, Snimmer, Google Talk Gadget, ebuddy, and Robin Good lists a few more. Plus, you might want to check out Gmail's integrated Gtalk client to see if that works.

Just be warned, if your company policy states IM is not allowed, being caught doing so could be serious. For companies that deal in trade secrets or financial information, such a violation could even lead to termination. So for the uber-paranoid, just break out your phone. Most modern cell phones and PDAs ship with an IM client or two already installed. If not, go grab your favorites from the web: MSN Mobile, Mobile AIM, Google Talk (for some smartphones).

Sneaking in Your Tweets

Not comfortable with twitter.com loaded up on-screen for everyone to see? There are other ways to tweet undercover. Download Twhirl if you can. You may also want to check out OutTwit which lets you get your tweets via Outlook email.

If you can't download or install anything, just subscribe to your Twitter feeds via RSS instead, being sure to use an online reader.

Of course, for mobile users, tweeting by IM (see above section) is a possibility, as is tweeting via various mobile apps, like Blackberry's Twitterberry, ceTwit or Twobile for Windows Mobile, MoTwit for Palm OS, Tiny Twitter or jtwitter for Java-enabled phones, or, for anyone else, EmailTwitter, which lets you send tweets and retrieve your timeline via your phone.

Mindless Blog Surfing

RSS. RSS. RSS. If you're not already using an online feed reader, like Google Reader or Bloglines, now's the time to start. Too busy with that "work stuff" to do more than just scan articles? Set up a tag just for your "read it later" items or star them. Revisit them later when you're back at home.

Another option is to subscribe to blogs in Outlook. In many traditional companies, Microsoft Office is par for the course. If your company has revved to Outlook 2007, you can read your RSS feeds right there, no additional software needed. To kick it up a notch, Inbox 3.0 integrates with Outlook, too.

Want to actually go surfing outside of your feeds? Any web surfing at work has the possibility of interruptions. So save the things you come across for later reading at home. Using your portable Firefox, install Idea Shower's "Read It Later" extension for saving items you come across on the web.

Even better, the new ReadBag app built on Google's new apps engine, lets you save links for later reading too, but this tool also offers a daily digest that can be emailed to you at the time you specify. Readbag works via bookmarklet or Firefox extension and provides mobile access to your saved items.

Facebook at Work

What's that? Facebook's blocked? How could they? Proxy sites come to the rescue. If you desperately need MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Digg, Mixx, or any other restricted site, you can try a proxy like: Access Facebook, Facebook Firewall, or VisitSitesAtWork. You can also check out the list at Proxy.org. Just be sure to clear your cookies, your history, and your cache when done. The domain names pretty much give away what you were up to there.

Another idea is, again, mobile access. Blackberry users have their own mobile Facebook app, iPhone users can go here, and, for others, you can visit the Facebook Mobile web site.

Fight FriendFeed Withdrawl

If you successfully installed Twhirl for tweeting at work, then you're in luck since it also lets you access FriendFeed. Other FriendFeed AIR apps you can try are AlertThingy, Feedalizr, or bTT.

If you are prevented from installing programs, consider FriendFeed access via RSS feeds. Just subscribe in your online reader. 

For mobile users, the moblf app can help. This app gives you access to FriendFeed, Twitter, Yelp, and LinkedIn updates via SMS on your mobile phone.

Other Tips

If you can't download files form the web but you can install them, just load the executables onto your USB key and bring them into the office. Another alternative is to zip them up and store them online at an online storage site like box.net or SkyDrive.

You also need to know how to quickly minimize your activities. On a Windows PC, Alt+Tab switches you from window to window. Have only two open - the web browser and the spreadsheet, for example. This way, you won't accidentally mess up and Alt+Tab too many times in haste as your boss approaches, and end up switching to yet another inappropriate window.

Why?

Having been in I.T. myself for years, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to subverting I.T. policy to goof off at work. Why would I share this with the world? Because any I.T. manager worth their salt should know all these things already and how to combat them (if that's what the company wants.)

And every company concerned with employee productivity needs to determine for themselves where they draw the line on non-worked related internet activities and take the appropriate measures they deem necessary for blocking, stopping, tracking, and monitoring employee web use.

Finally, remember: just because you can, doesn't mean you should. If you really are slacking at work, people know. I've honored more than one request throughout my years in I.T. to monitor an employee's activities on the DL and your I.T. guy probably will do the same. Proceed carefully.

The Methods

The GTD Method: GTD, or "Getting it Done," methodology arose from David Allen's popular and ground-breaking work-life management system. His techniques can be applied to nearly all aspects of work and life. Specifically, using the GTD method for processing email involves taking action on every piece of email that arrives in your inbox. As you review each item, you should should do one of these 3 items if the item requires action: 1) Do it (if it takes less than two minutes), 2) Delegate it, 3) Defer it. If the item does not require action, either 1) File it, 2) Delete it, or 3) Incubate it for possible action later. By processing mail this way, you'll always have an empty inbox.

Implement It:

Due to GTD's popularity, there are now several software tools to choose from. A list and comparison chart of many of these tools can be found here.

One of the more popular tools, boasting 80,000 users, is the GTDInbox Firefox extension for Gmail. This extension, which recently relaunched with a new version, GTDInbox 2.0, automatically sets up Gmail labels like "Next Action," "Waiting On," "Someday," and "Finished." The extension is smart - as you label items as "Finished," it will automatically remove the label "Next Action." The extension also structures Gmail as a personal database of projects, references, and people, clustering related items together so you can easily find everything related to a project, contact, or file. For example, you could click on a project and email all the associated contacts.

The 4-Hour Workweek Method: Timothy Ferriss also released a popular book which offered the blueprint to how you could eliminate most of your workload and outsource your life in order to regain more personal time ("mini-retirements," as he called it). He recommends managing email through more of an avoidance strategy, calling email "the greatest single interruption in the modern world." To counter the time-wasting aspect of email, Ferris recommends you begin by turning off the audible alert and/or visual notification. Then move to checking your email only twice per day: once at 12:00 noon (or just prior to lunch) and again at 4:00 pm. He advises you to never check email first thing in the morning.

Implement It:

To help implement this process, an auto-response email template can be used, which advises of your new process while also offering a way to reach you in the case of an actual emergency (like a cell #). If you become the master of this method, like Ferriss, you could even move to checking your email once per week. Of course there are other things that need to be adjusted in order for this to work, like removing yourself as an information bottleneck or empowering subordinates or employees to make decisions on their own, but ultimately the goal is to reduce your email inbox from being filled with urgent to-do items.

The "Treat Email As SMS" Policy: Another method to dealing with email involves treating all incoming email as if it were an SMS text message. Only use a set number of sentences to respond. How many sentences is up to you.

Implement It:

A web site called sentenc.es can help you implement this. Begin by updating your email with a signature similar to the following:

The link takes you to the web site explaining what you're doing. There are also sites available for four, three, and two sentences, if you want to be even briefer.

The Folders & Rules Method: The classic old-school way of organizing your email into meaningful folders containing similar items. This method arose from a time when desktop email software was the norm and email search was either poorly executed or non-existent. Despite the fact that there are now clearly superior ways to organize mail, many people are still moving email into folders. This process can be automated in desktop software, like Outlook, or in web-software, like Gmail, by using "Rules" (aka "Filters" in Gmail). This process involves having incoming mail identified based on sender, keywords, subject, etc and then categorized and filing appropriately. Gmail also introduced Labels, which allows for mail to exist in multiple "folders," an option that is more like tagging your mail, but ultimately, it is just folders 2.0, leading Gmail users to having multiple labels for mail instead of single folders.

Implement It:

No don't! But if you must, at least make it easier on yourself. Read up on Outlook rules, Thunderbird filters, Gmail filters, or documentation for whatever your mail client of choice is. You can augment your software by using add-ons and extensions, too. For Outlook users, the Clear Context add-in will overhaul your email system and help you manage your inbox better. Apple mail users can use Mail Act-On.

The Email Bankruptcy Method: Surprisingly, some people are just giving up on email. The term's origin may have originated from MIT professor, Sherry Turkle's, concept after conducting research on people's relationship with technology. She discovered that some people had fantasies about escaping the burden of their email. However it was author, Lawrence Lessig, who popularized it.

Take this example from a Washington Post article:

But, according to the article, dropping out is copping out - "a reactionary and isolationist way of dealing with modern communications."

Implement It:

You shouldn't declare email bankruptcy unless you really have no other choice. If you are going this extreme route, the best way to do so would be to send out a mass email to all of your contacts with an explanation and an apology. Offer them other ways to reach you like phone numbers and snail mail addresses, unless you are committing to becoming a total hermit. Prepare to be ridiculed.

Conclusion

After reviewing the mailbox management methodologies, are there any that really stand out as the best way? The GTD method makes a lot of sense, but it takes time to retrain yourself to change years of behavior you've become accustomed to. Of course, time to train and change is something you often don't have due to the very same burden you're trying to overcome. Besides reading the success stories on the acclaimed authors web sites, how many people have implemented a GTD or alternative email methodology and stuck with it over time? Have you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Starting yesterday and running through the 18th of January, the BlogOnExpo includes interviews and short tutorials from names many readers here will recognize.

Context

The idea of offering a "conference" on blogging for free, online, with such high profile contributors is a good one. Most real-life conferences strive to have big names but end up with mediocre content and the best value comes from conversations in the halls with other attendees. In this case, the content in the BlogOnExpo is pretty darned good. I was skeptical about how many of the listed participants would actually participate but a few days into the event - I am impressed!

If I had any criticisms they would be that the interview transcripts are a little awkward and the participants are limited primarily to tech bloggers. There are a lot of bloggers online who are wildly successful who don't write about blogging or tech at all. My favorite examples are the blogs Simply Recipes and Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. It would be nice to hear from some more top bloggers outside of technology about what's worked well for them.

That said, Aditya Mahesh has done a remarkable job in this first iteration and I look forward to seeing what he does next.

8 Software Engineering Tips for Startups

Since software is at the heart of every modern startup it needs to be elegant, simple and agile. Instead of having an army of coders it pays to have a handful of smart, passionate engineers who love what they are doing instead. A small, passionate team can generally accomplish more than an army. Even as the company grows you can still accomplish a lot with a small team.

Tip 0: You must have code

Working code proves that a system is possible, and it also proves that the team can build the system. Having working code is a launchpad for your business. After it is ready, the business can happen. In the old days, tech companies were funded based on an idea written on a piece of paper, but those days are long gone. Today, a startup needs to have not only working code, but an assembled system and active users in order to land venture capital money. Software engineering transitioned from the post-funding exercise to the means to being funded.

Tip 1: You must have a technical co-founder

Any startup starts with an idea and just a few people. A lot of startup co-founders these days are techies, passionate about technology and life. It was not always like that. Just a few years back a purely technical founding team would have had a hard time raising money because there was a school of thought that only people with MBA degrees could run a company. Now, having a technical co-founder is a benefit.

Tip 2: Hire A+ engineers who love coding

Until recently, building a large scale system that worked was like black magic. Most software projects languished for years, and had large engineering teams who had little consensus on what needed to be done and how to accomplish it. The resulting systems were buggy, unstable, and hard to maintain and extend. The problem was that there were just too many people who were not that good working on writing software. Startups cannot afford to have less than A+ engineers.

Tip 3: Keep the engineering team small and do not outsource

A team of 2-3 rockstar engineers can build pretty much any system because they are good at what they do, love building software, focus on the goal, and don't get in each other's way. A team of 20 so-so engineers will not get very far. The mythical man-month book debunked the notion of scaling by adding more programmers to the project. The truth is that most successful software today is built by just a handful of good engineers. Less is more applies equally to code and to the number of people working on it.

Tip 4: Ask tough questions during the interview

There is nothing worse than being soft during an interview with a prospective employee and hiring the wrong person into the company as a result. This is bad for you, but more importantly bad for the person. In the end you will end up parting ways, but it would be best to just not make this mistake to begin with. So be tough and ask a lot of technical questions during the interview.

Tip 5: Avoid hiring non-technical managers

You do not need these type of people on a small team. If everyone is sharp, knows what they are doing and executes on a task, why do you need a manager? People who try to overlay complex processes on top your objectives are going to slow you down and make you frustrated.

Tip 6: Cultivate an agile culture

Modern startups need to move very quickly. There is no room to plan for 6 months and then execute because someone else will get there first. The new approach is to evolve the system. Of course you are doing planning for the next release, but you are iterating quickly, doing frequent builds, and constantly making changes. Coding becomes sculpting.

Tip 7: Do not re-invent the wheel

A lot of startups go overboard with their infrastructure. This includes two types of things - rebuilding libraries and building your own world-class scaling. On the first point - there are so many fantastic open source libraries out there that it just does not make sense to write them in house. Whether you are using JavaScript or PHP or .NET or Python or Ruby, there are likely already libraries out there that can help you. Re-writing existing libraries is a waste of your time and you are not likely to do it better.

Read the complete post on BlueBlog

5 Infrastructure Tips for Startups

It is much easier to build web-scale startup these days because of great hosting services like Rackspace, web services from Amazon, and tracking systems like Google Analytics. In this post we take a closer look at these solutions from the perspective of a startup.

Tip 1: Use the best hosting provider you can afford

As a startup, you are always looking for ways to keep costs down. One of the first areas that seems to be a good place to trim costs and save money is on web hosting. However, skimping on hosting is a mistake that will cost you a lot of time, which is more valuable than the money you will spend. It is okay to go with a cheaper provider when you are just developing the code, but your production needs to run on a rock solid system.

Tip 2: Use Amazon Web Services

You are still likely to need a regular hosting provider, but you should be aware of an increasingly important alternative - Amazon Web Services. This offering from the e-commerce giant is a must-consider piece of infrastructure for any startup. Specifically, four services make it easier to build large-scale web applications: Simple Storage Service, Elastic Compute Cloud, Simple DB, and Simple Queue Service.

Tip 3: Use Google Analytics in standard and creative ways

Early on, startups need to track things. Tracking results are useful for metrics, which in turn help measure growth and success of the company. Without tracking, it is difficult to determine what is going on. Google Analytics is packed with features, but more importantly it has an API. The reason this is important is because you can actually build your own dashboard that offers a different, customized view of the same information.

Tip 4: Start with defaults, then tune the system

In 99.9% of cases you are better off starting with defaults, and in 99.9% of cases you are not going to end up where you started. The trick is to go from those defaults to custom settings in the proper way. Probably the worst thing you can do is premature tuning. Like premature optimization of source code, this leads to ugliness. Why guess before you even know what is going to happen to the system?

Tip 5: Hire or contract a good system administrator

This is the simplest tip of all. Like programming, business development and accounting system management is a specialty best left to professionals. I know my way around Unix, I even used to be a system administrator 15 years ago, but I am not up to par. When you reach a certain size and scale, you need a dedicated person running the hardware and OS show.

Read the complete post on BlueBlog.

11 PR Tips for Startups

PR is a tough game. When the market is red hot, it's hard to get noticed because there are a lot of companies competing for air time. When the market is cool it is hard to get people to pay any attention because they are not interested (tired after the hot market). And for startups it's even tougher to have effective PR because a startup can't throw a lot of money at the problem. In this post we look at how startups should approach PR.

Tip 1: Hire a PR firm

This may come as a surprise, but you do need a PR firm. An early stage startup can't always afford one, but that does not mean that it is not necessary. The number one reason you need a PR firm is because of their connections. They know people, because this is what they do - network.

Tip 2: Do not expect PR people to intimately learn your product

This is not their role. They are connectors, they are the bridge between you and the media. They are responsible for putting you in front of the right press. This is their job. It is your job to pitch your product, to explain why it is so awesome and why everyone should be using it.

Tip 3: Get PR people who understand your space

PR companies have specialties, not all of them are right for you. For example, if you are in the consumer Internet space, do not hire a PR firm that specializes in mobile technologies - they're not the same thing. If you are a consumer Internet company, you need a firm that knows blogosphere inside out, because this is how you reach your early adopter crowd.

Tip 4: Launch your product at a conference

The reason for this is that you are likely to get a lot more media coverage and instant attention than if you launch just any old time. But the conference needs to fit. For launches, you can do one of two things: launch at a specialized conference such as DEMO (which we recommend) or you can launch in a non-startup conference which has a launchpad feature. For example, Web 2.0 events typically present 10-15 startups, as do conferences like Supernova. It does not make sense to launch at a conference that does not have any startup participation because it won't be the proper context for your launch.

Tip 5: Create demos, videos, pictures, and slides

A newsflash: press releases are dead. We have found them to be completely ineffective. To the point of zero leads. Zero. Instead, you need to prepare a new kind of media. Remember that people are spoiled these days, so they will have high expectations. If you think you can show up and tell them that you got the best new technology, hand wave, and then expect a write up, you are dreaming. You need to prepare. You need to distill your product and the message into something easily digestible, and you need to be very clear.

Tip 6: Do not launch or release big news on Monday or Friday

This may or may not be obvious but there are only 3 days when things get done: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These are the best days to launch your product, in that order. Monday could work, but in the afternoon, because in the morning people still can't believe that the weekend is over. Fridays are really bad for PR - everyone is just waiting for the weekend.

Tip 7: Emailing after an introduction is more effective

One thing you have to understand about A-list bloggers like Michael Arrington, Richard MacManus, Om Malik and their colleagues is that they are getting thousands of emails each day from startups. It is physically impossible for them to process and respond to all that email. You may find that unfair, but this is just a simple fact. So once again, this is where a PR firm or at least a friendly connection via LinkedIn will come in handy. If you are introduced, the chances are far better that you will be heard. (No guarantees that you will be written up.)

Tip 8: Set an embargo and stick with it

This is something that we had to learn over and over again. Everyone wants an exclusive. Each blog that does news, wants to be first with the news. This is just the name of the game. If you do give an exclusive to one, you are running a big danger of not getting coverage in others. The way around this issue is to setup an embargo (meaning they can't blog about your launch until certain time) and then brief everyone prior to that and give them time to write about you.

Tip 9: Make sure people do not write without a brief from someone in your company

There has been a trend lately of writing based on a press release. While this does get you coverage, it is likely to do more bad than good. It is not just that you want to be heard, you want to be heard correctly. The key to that is to get a chance to tell your story directly to a reporter. A post based on a press release is likely to be wrong and harmful, while a post based on a one-on-one interaction is more likely to get it right.

Tip 10: Understand that major media coverage will not happen overnight

Chasing an article in a major magazine or newspaper like Wired or MIT Technology Review or the New York Times is not worth it. Their reporters will not write a feature until it becomes crystal clear that you are a huge success and are worthy of a feature. Instead of spending efforts on that, you are better off making the product really great and getting people to use it and evangelize it for you. The mainstream media will find you.

Tip 11: Community is the best PR strategy

It is very difficult to achieve continuous PR unless you do it via your own users. A thousand passionate users who have blogs and social network profiles can promote your product and expose you to more people than coverage on top blogs and magazines. For better or worse, news today is cheap. A post stays on the main page of a blog or newspaper site for a few hours and then scrolls out into a black hole. Google occasionally brings an old post to those who seek it, but realistically, news just flies by and no one wants yesterday's news.

Read the complete post on BlueBlog.

7 Conference Tips for Startups

We have been to quite a few conferences already and more than a few people have asked me which conferences are good. The problem is not that some conferences are bad, it's just that some conferences may not be the right venue for your startup. In this post we are going to share with you our experiences in the tech conference world.

Tip 1: Launch at DEMO

DEMO is a great venue because its sole focus is to launch companies. Despite the fact that you will be one of over sixty participants, you will be given the stage and attention. The show is very intense, as it takes place in only two days. Each company is given exactly 6 minutes. The stage presentations are mixed with pavilion presentations which are a few hours long.

Tip 2: Sponsor/attend a few high impact conferences

ETech, SWSX and Defrag are our top picks so far. Make sure there is a fit between the conference and your product. Check out who else is sponsoring, and get feedback and blog posts from last year's attendees before signing up.

Tip 3: Rent the best equipment you can afford

Whatever it takes to make your product look good. It simply does not make sense to spend money on the sponsorship and try to save on the equipment. Save on the hotel and airfare instead.

Tip 4: Save money by staying in a hotel near by

You can stay anywhere reasonably close. The only thing you'd be missing is hanging with the people at the bar in the evening. Then again, that could be useful because drunk people talk more.

Tip 5: Don't grab people to look at your product

Some people do it, I am against it. How would you feel if you were grabbed and pressured into watching a demo?

Tip 6: Don't tolerate upsells

This is a sensitive topic, but it is a very important one. Unfortunately a lot of people at these events are not there to see you, they are there to use you. Consider people who are looking for a job. It is perfectly reasonable for someone to come over and hand you a resume. It is not reasonable for them to take up a lot of your time or to ask a lot about your company. Get their information quickly and tell them you will be in touch.

Tip 7: Organize PR around the conference

Conferences are a great and maybe rare chance to interact with reporters and bloggers face-to-face. However, it is not a straightforward practice. Reporters are humans and as such, they play games. If you approach them head on they will say no for no particular reason. Somehow you need to make them feel special, which is not easy. It is a good idea to get a press list and contact reporters in advance and arrange appointments. You may get a no over the phone, but they might just come by your booth anyway when they have a free minute. If this sounds like dating, it very much feels that way too.

Read the complete post on BlueBlog.

5 Legal and Finance Tips for Startups

You are unlikely to think about lawyers and accountants when you dream up a piece of software that will change the world. Yet, if you want to build a real company you need to take care of the basics. While not the primary focus of your business, administrative functions are very important because they have impact on your daily life and the long term growth of your business. The main trick is to be aware of what needs to be done and do it quickly and effectively.

Tip 1: Setup a real company

The first step to setting up a business is to declare it to the world. Lots of startups in the garage might think that setting up a company does not make sense until you get the business off the ground. The idea of first writing the code and then incorporating is just plain wrong. First you need to figure out what kind of company are you creating and what is the ownership structure. Setting up a company is cheap and quick and it is an important starting point for your business. What you get in return is: legal protection, alignment of everyone's expectations, and basic knowledge about how companies work.

Tip 2: Get a Delaware LLC or Inc.

Likely the best way for you to setup a company is to create a Delaware Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) or a full C-Corporation (Inc). Delaware has traditionally been an attractive place for companies to set up shop because of its tax laws. The important difference between an LLC and an Inc is in how they treat taxes and the number of shareholders. The LLC is generally much simpler to maintain and it allows pass through taxes, which is good for companies that have income in the early days. Revenue can be treated as income to shareholders and only taxed once. In an Inc the tax is paid twice, first by the corporation and then again by the employees, as part of their regular withholding.

Tip 3: Don't save money on a lawyer

A lawyer? Are you kidding me?! Why would we need a lawyer for our brand new startup in a garage? As it turns out, there are a whole bunch of reasons and there is not much wiggle room here. Because a company is a legal entity having a lawyer is essential. For starters here is the list of things and documents that your lawyer should do for you in the first days and months of your business:

• Incorporate your business
• Create articles of incorporation
• Create corporate bylaws and maintain board minutes
• Create a shareholder agreement
• Create employment agreements
• Create a stock options plan

Tip 4: Get an accountant and, more importantly, a bookkeeper

Just like the legal aspects of a startup cannot be ignored, neither can the financial aspects. And unlike the legal stuff, which is mostly a one time deal, finances are ongoing and require continuous attention. To deal with finances you need two kinds of people: accountants and bookkeepers. The accountants are skilled in complexities and intricacies of tax law. They also conducts audits or reviews of the company, typically once a year. Accountants typically do not keep books because they are expensive (kind of like lawyers, maybe a bit cheaper). Instead the books are kept by bookkeepers and so to find a kick ass bookkeeper is another really important thing you need to do when you start a company. You can go either with an individual or with a service. I always prefer an individual became there is an opportunity to develop a relationship and get more personalized service.

Tip 5: Turn boring into learning

You have to take care of legal and financial aspects of the startup, so why not turn it into a learning experience? The legal and financial aspects of your company are important and interesting, and there are a lot of new things and ideas that you will encounter that are likely to impress you. Learning about them will help you in the long run.

Read the complete post on BlueBlog.

Conclusion

One of the reasons for this post is to open up a wider discussion. What works for you? What software engineering, infrastructure, public relations, conferences, legal and finance tips can you share with us about your startup? Use the comments below to share your thoughts.