Applications For Individuals

@wordpost  — Andrew Swenson

Google Calendar + Tasks because it’s free, easy to use, and syncs up everywhere (including on my iPhone).

@maryshaw — Mary Shaw

I use iCal for time management because it syncs with my iPhone and I set reminders to beep me at all hours. It’s a lot of beeping.

@nickf — Nick Finck

I have iCal running on Google Calendar with Teux Deux for task level stuff. It just works well. Simple, easy to use.

iCal comes with Macs and lets you keep separate calendars; you could have one for work, one for each client, one for home and another for school.

@Jchristopher — Jonathan Christopher

I chose OmniFocus after going back and forth between it and Things for at least two months. I became more attached to certain higher level features of OmniFocus, and came to realize that a preference between the two is simply of a personal nature from designer to designer. Some people feel differently, but I’m actually a huge fan of the OmniFocus interface design and find that it caters to the complexity (or simplicity) you prefer.

OmniFocus and Things are also Mac applications.

@gregpincus — Greg Pincus

My favorite time management app is old-school: the timer/alarm clock. (I use it on my iPhone to make it cool) :-) I have a broad schedule and my issue isn’t where, but how much. Blog reading could be three hours if I didn’t time it.

@arikhanson — Arik C. Hanson

I like Remember the Milk because of its full integration with Google and phone.

Remember the Milk is a nice task management web app. However, it works with Google Calendar and has iCal feeds available for those who want to tie tasks to a calendar for time management. The app can send reminders and notifications through many avenues including IM, Twitter and email.

@anoop_sahgal — Anoop Sahgal

I use Outlook for both professional and personal uses, and it syncs with my phone. Since Outlook is already set up on everything, it worked for me.

Applications For Teams

@gregmcqueen — Greg McQueen

I use Backpack from 37Signals for just about everything — writing included. It’s simple. 37Signals designed it so you don’t need to read a manual on how to use it. They succeeded.

Backpack is another popular web app.

@stenoknight  — Mirabai Knight

I like ididwork.com (Twitter-style task logger) and ManicTime. I use it because of the efficiency of Twitter, plus privacy and weekly reports, without having to set my actual Twitter feed to private. Accountability is key.

Ididwork is a web app that has team-based features, reports and tagging. ManicTime is a Windows app that collects computer usage data and provides graphic reports.

@prchicago — Toni Antonetti

Love SmartSheet — it helps track projects for clients and team. It lets us share project sheets with clients, input time and info in web form that goes into Smartsheet and it’s easier than emailing spreadsheets.

SmartSheet is a web apps that works similarly to Backpack, in that it tracks individual work, lets you collaborate with a team and updates clients. It also includes tools for sales management, marketing and human resources.

Two Things Consider in Your Decision

Many things can factor into your search for the ideal time management application. You can narrow the list by looking at two things:

• Team or individual: Do you need an app solely for your own use, or do you need to manage a team or update clients?
• Type of application: Do you need a web app that you can access from anywhere? A desktop app that can automatically collect time tracking data of all of your activities? A mobile app that you can use from your phone?

What time management app do you use? How did you choose?

Most business experts believe that if you don’t fail, it means you’re not pushing yourself hard enough or taking enough risks. Thomas Edison said this about failure: “I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” He saw mistakes as a step toward to a solution.

In this “Tips from the Trenches” post, some experts share some of the mistakes that they’ve made, and what they’ve learned from them.

@marketingprofs — Ann Handley

Early on in my career: Getting to be best buddies with people I was supervising. Until I had to let one of them go. THAT was a lesson. I work to keep better boundaries with folks who report to me by acting more like a resource for them, and not just a pal.

This is also a reason why it can be tricky promoting someone within a team to become the manager. It’s difficult to transition from colleague to boss.

@journalistics — Jeremy Porter

I quit my first job with no regard for relationships. Never burn bridges. All your relationships should be for the long haul.

We’ve all been in situations that left us seething, and let our primitive fight-or-flight response take over. You never know who you will encounter again. Even if you don’t meet them again, those people might talk about your burning bridges to future prospects. Word of mouth is powerful and spreads fast.

@BridgetForney — Bridget Forney

Not everyone is a teacher. Find the ones who are willing to guide you and listen carefully.

We sometimes land in situations where we report to people who teach us nothing new, or don’t have good management skills. Rather than drifting along until that next job or gig, do what you can to keep learning and receiving guidance so you can be ready for the next step.

@rupertmike — Mike Rupert

No one will give you anything unless you ask, take or make for yourself. I waited too long for instructions.

If you find yourself sitting there, go do something. This is your opportunity to show initiative.

@JGoldsborough — Justin Goldsborough

There’s never just one answer or one perspective.

You could do the same two projects for two different companies and work them in very different ways because of the people involved.

@stoweboyd — Stowe Boyd

I worked several times for people I thought were crazy or dumb before I took a job, yet I went ahead and took it anyway. It turned out to be true every time leading to wasted years. Never again.

Many folks rely on gut instincts often because they turn out to be right. So if you get a gut feeling about new projects, clients and other situations, pay heed. I had a bad feeling about a prospective client, so I checked in with a colleague who had worked with her. It turned out those feelings were on target, so I passed on the gig.

@cheeky_geeky — Mark D. Drapeau

Not allowing my entrepreneurial spirit to come out early enough. (Of course, I’m still young!)

Mark provides a classic example of “hindsight is 20/20.” All you can do is the best you can with what you have. Pushing yourself, however, could help you discover uncharted waters.

What mistakes have you made and what did you learn from them?

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@briansolis — Brian Solis

“We tend to dive in to social networks based on either an ‘aha’ or ‘uh oh’ moment without really thinking through ‘why’ we’re supposed to be on social networks in the first place. It’s usually the same template. Get a Facebook fan page. Set up an account on Twitter. Listen to the conversations. Engage!

The reality is that we have to listen to more than the usual networks as represented by the Conversation Prism in order to understand: #1 what the social landscape really looks like; #2 what are we learning by listening to relevant conversations; and, #3 what distinct value could we bring to each and every community where our presence is warranted based on what we’ve learned and analyzed.

Successful engagement requires an empathetic approach that requires us to truly become the people we’re trying to reach.”

Aha! Some of us stumble into Twitter and other social media sites to see what they’re about, without having a goal or strategy in mind. As soon as we understand how the social media site works, wen need to explore how we want to use it from a business perspective rather than shooting blind. This ensures that we make the most of every touch point rather than flail our way through it. It’s also worth noting that you can never go wrong with listening and showing empathy.

@brett — Brett Petersel

“Social media is a platform that provides a number of tools which allow me to showcase two personalities: Myself and the companies I represent online/offline (Mashable, NextWeb, etc). These personalities can also be merged together, where I can cross-pollinate my ideas and views (e.g. on Twitter, I can talk about my personal life and share information about a Mashable article or event).

For business-related purposes, I use tools such as Google Alerts and Facebook to monitor the activity of the many brands I represent. I enjoy reading what people may be writing about an event we had or article we had written (and writing a comment in response to theirs), or sharing photos and videos for others to see so that they may want to participate in the future. I focus upon the return on engagement (ROE) and see what areas are working and which need improvement.”

Where to draw the line between personal and professional lives on social media is a dilemma for everyone working online. Some folks combine the two knowing that they’re sharing their personalities and giving people exactly what they get when working with them. Others choose not to share their personal lives with colleagues and clients.

@technosailor — Aaron Brazell

“I use social media as a way to maintain trust. Most of my business is word-of-mouth, so trust is necessary if I’m going to continue to enjoy that benefit. By using social media and presenting an honest and open front, I am able to maintain the trust relationship between me, clients and potential clients.”

Being open and honest is important. A person can only fake it for so long before people figure it out.

@hybridmom — Robin Kleban

“We use social media — mainly Twitter and Facebook (in addition to the existing ‘Hybrid Mom’ community) — to not only get to know our members better, but also to share more about the ‘Hybrid Mom’ team. We’re adamant about not just ‘pushing out’ messages, but more about having conversations. We ask questions. We share tips and information. But we also look to our social media community (fans, followers, members) for advice, support and information as well.”

“Hybrid Mom” is an online and print publication that reaches out to moms who work. Notice that Robin focuses on providing information and building relationships, not promoting the magazine itself.

@tommytrc — Thomas Clifford

“Social media can be this huge bottomless pit of web sites and terms that make people feel overwhelmed. I feel people are making this harder than it needs to be. Social media — as its name states — is supposed to be social, not ‘I’m so busy figuring this out I have no time to interact.’ The way I made it work for me is by doing this:

1. Pick a few tools and use them. I knew these those core tools well before branching out further. Social media is as easy as a blog on your web site, or an online comment area or even a YouTube video. The key is to give readers and users a way to respond in an open forum; that’s social media in action.

2. Just do it. I didn’t stand around and talk about it. I just signed up for Twitter, Facebook and so on without worrying about perfection. I knew I’d learn as I went and perfected the process on the fly. There was no right or wrong answer to this process. If it worked, I kept doing it’ if not, I changed it up a little till I found my secret sauce for success.

3. Be myself. My brand would never be successful if I wasn’t genuine and true to my followers. Once people fall in love with you as a person, they will want to know more about your product or service. This is how the process works. So I built myself personally, which led to finding success professionally.”

The mantra of “Be authentic” is a mantra for a good reason. Clifford makes an important point to select a few sites to use on a regular basis. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to do it all.

@debng — Deb Ng

“I use social media tools to establish relationships and I take those relationships face to face to totally rock them to a whole other level.”

Building relationships online is one thing, but real-life “face time” can be important, too.

@KevinEikenberry — Kevin Eikenberry

“Social media helps brand my business; it won’t do it for you, but if you have a clear brand social media can accelerate progress. Social media allows me to express my personality, as an extension of my company — helping to further differentiate us. Social media generates leads and pre-frame people, making them more likely future buyers.”

A static web site can only reveal so much. Social media brings life to a brand and company in real-time, as the people behind the company respond to online chatter. This allows their customers and prospects to steer the conversation and see how the brand responds.

If you like to learn more about using social media in business, check out the report on GigaOM Pro, “Social Media in the Enterprise” (subscription required).

How do you use social media in your business?

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@pistachio — Laura Fitton

“One of my tips is to try to understand why I’m procrastinating. Sometimes it’s because my gut is telling me the task is the wrong thing to do. In general I’ve always restlessly sought out my ‘right’ work. Stuff I’m so driven and compelled to do that procrastination is a non-issue. That way I can even plow through the boring parts of it. But I do procrastinate when writing. Trying to understand why and reduce my fears helps.”

It’s true that something may be holding you back. Maybe you fear you won’t do well. Maybe you don’t like the assignment. Maybe you’re feeling down and really need something else to help you before you can plunge in. Maybe you didn’t do a good job the first time around, and fear you won’t be able to fix it the next time.

@RochelleVeturis – Rochelle Veturis

“1) Pump up the caffeine. Iced coffees are refreshing and healthy when taken with non-fat milk. 2) Vent to your tweeps, and ask for ideas. The encouragement is invaluable and I’ve gotten my best ideas from them. 3) Jumping jacks, a short walk or stretch. Motion creates emotion. 4) Change it up — film a video, write a different kind of blog post. This one is fool proof. You’ve got to shake things up or even the most creative folks and be starved by the doldrums. 5) Connect with media/clients via LinkedIn. Send a neat article and take your unproductiveness and turn it into a new, possible opportunity. Plus, media/client relations is always time well spent.”

Can’t. Talk. Now. Ex … er… cis … ing. A good workout makes you feel like you can take on the world, or at least a tiny part.

@chrisguillebeau – Chris Guillebeau

“Sometimes I give in to it, to be quite honest. But otherwise… To combat ‘not-in-mood-syndrome,’ I’ll use a variety of methods, including using the carrot-and-stick approach on myself, i.e., no lunch until I finish this thing I’ve been putting off. I also try to use the GTD two-minute rule (if you can do it in two minutes or less, don’t put it off). Lastly, I try to focus on the long-term view. Most of the time if I need to do something, I know it will be in my best interest to do it and I’ll be happier if I just suck it up.”

Some days we have to admit that procrastination has defeated us. It defeated me last weekend, so I resorted to laundry and “Zuma’s Revenge.” When this happens, maybe you can get something else done that’s not related to work. Exercise? Laundry? Playing video games (hey, it’s eye-hand coordination exercising)?

@JasonFalls – Jason Falls

“The best thing you can do is plan and work ahead. If something is due on Friday, work a little on it Monday, then Tuesday. The more intimidating the task, the more lead time you should allow yourself. Working a little at a time cuts down the intimidation factor. I would also say that the best motivator I have to blow through the procrastination bug is knowing if I miss the deadline or the work isn’t as good as it could be because I put it off, I have no-one to blame but myself. If you have much pride at all, that can get you through it.”

That’s why I work well when I don’t wait until the last minute. Some people thrive on the last minute rush while it kills others. Know yourself and your working style. When you understand how you work, you can prepare and plan.

@thewritermama — Christina Katz

“How do I battle procrastination? One word: deadlines. When something is happening or due on a particular date, I have to get it done. I have to plan ahead. I have to think it through. Without deadlines, nothing would ever happen around here. Not one thing. I have been teaching email classes since 2004 and what’s the one thing that helps my writing students improve that they rave about? The simple deadline.”

Reminds me of the quote by Douglas Adams, “I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.” Most of us don’t like that sound, so we get it done.

@chrisgarrett – Chris Garrett

“My main procrastination issue is ‘analysis paralysis,’ it’s something I struggle with and talk about a lot. Some people are goal-driven, others are more motivated by avoiding pain. I get over procrastination by focusing on the consequences of not doing something. If there are no clear consequences then I set up a situation where there will be. For example I will call a friend and tell her what my actions are and that she should pull me up if I haven’t done what I set out to do.

“Another example is to say ‘If I do not do this then I will donate $100 to this charity’ (or an amount greater than you would donate anyway). Other people I work with prefer to set up a treat, ‘If I do this then I get to buy myself a new Wii game,’ and so on. My best results though have come from arranging an ‘accountability partner,’ we hold each other accountable and make sure we do not allow excuses!”

Bribe ourselves, eh? Sounds good!

@scottsigler — Scott Sigler

“I work with a production partner so I have someone to whom I’m accountable.  If I slack off, I’m wasting not just my time, but theirs too. Helps keep me focused on the task at hand.”

Even if you don’t have a business partner, try to find someone to be your motivation partner. Plenty of people working alone and would like to team up with others to help push each other.

@CharJTF — Char James-Tanny

“Give into it for an hour. Play games, walk, make a phone call, cook, bake. When hour is up, do something related to work.”

Maybe your mind and body long to play. Let them have their fun time and maybe they’ll cooperate when your hour is up. Playing can put you in a good mood and a good mood equals motivation.

How do you deal with procrastination? Don’t put it off; leave a comment now!

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For this post, instead of quoting yet more theories from books, I asked some experts and fellow Twitter users to share their real life tips for getting things done.

@bradshorr — Brad Shorr

“Always ask WHY am I doing this task, and HOW could I do it more efficiently.”

Sometimes we turn into zombies and forget to pay attention to what we’re doing and its effect on our work. Make a conscious effort to ensure whatever you’re doing has value. Fun counts, of course.

@Dana_Willhoit — Dana Wilhoit

“Once an hour, take a five minute break and get up and walk around.”

Web workers tend to spend hours in front of the computer. Give your eyes a break, and your body a little reviving.

@JaneFriedman — Jane Friedman

“Getting things done: Turn off email; check it only one to two times (and if necessary, tell people the times you’ll be checking).“

This is one habit I can’t break even though I know it would add more time to my day. As a compromise, I’m organized in other areas to make up for the lost time I spend compulsively checking my email.

@AmberCadabra — Amber Naslund

“I’m a ruthless email deleter. And I break up my day so I keep my brain fresh.”

Breaking up your day can involve doing different types of tasks. Writers, for example, can do email, edit, write, read, research and network to shake up their day.

@skydiver — Peter Shankman

“I get up a half hour earlier than I have to. Every single day. AMAZING what you can do in that first half hour.”

Some folks accomplish the most in the morning — that extra half hour can make a big difference.

@jonathanfields — Jonathan Fields

“Slow it down to speed it up. Hair on fire speed leads to mistakes and omissions that take even longer to fix.”

This reminds me of a discussion with my 7th grade teacher. I can’t recall the exact quote, but the gist was to take your time to do the task right the first time because it takes more time to fix it and explain yourself if you don’t.

@shel – Shel Holtz

“Best tip for getting things done: Celebrate task completions before moving to the next task. Check Facebook, watch a video. “

Be realistic about the tasks you assign yourself for the day. Trying to get 10 tasks checked off the to-do list puts you at risk of failure, and losing self-confidence. Pick three doable tasks — not projects — and celebrate every check mark.

@PhilGerb — Phil Gerbyshak

“I’m old fashioned: I use pen and paper, and write my to-do list out every day when I start my day. Works great and n0 downtime!”

Pen and paper never run out of batteries, or put a strain on your back as you carry them with you all day.

@PRsarahevans — Sarah Evans

“Mom’s advice, ‘Take one thing at a time and the rest will fall in place.’ Also subscribe (or try to) 7 Habits principles.”

Instead of focusing on the 10 things you need to do all at once and wasting energy, start on one thing. Put one foot in front of the other.

@djwaldow — DJ Waldow

“Best tip for getting things done is to hold ‘power hours’ or contests. Real examples below:  1. Power Hour: ‘In the next 42 minutes I am going to learn how to use widgetware.’ 2. Contests: ‘First to clean out your inbox’”

Nothing like a good clean fun competition to motivate you to get moving. Just be a good sport about it, whether you win or lose.

@ConversationAge — Valeria Maltoni
“Best tip: focus on what’s important to advancing your business.”

This goes back to making sure the tasks you do matter to your business.

@iwearyourshirt — Jason Sadler
“Don’t over extend yourself. Schedule time to focus on email, focus on blogging, etc. Don’t do it all at once.“

“Just say no” isn’t just a slogan for kids to shoo away drugs. It’s also a phrase we should all use when we just can’t add anything else to our plates. It’s okay to turn things down as long as you do it nicely.

I bet you have some tips of your own. I’d love to hear them in the comments below, or tweet me @merylkevans or @webworkerdaily.

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Linking to outside videos would build on the search strength of YouTube parent Google and would be especially effective at compensating for YouTube’s weaknesses in news, sports, and live-streaming content. YouTube is pretty terrible when it comes to timely stuff; if they even make it to the site, news and pop culture clips are often pirated and get removed quickly.

Off-site video links could increase the overall utility of the site without adding to YouTube’s cost burden of hosting videos. At the same time, better and more comprehensive search would make its search ads all the more valuable. And monetizing search is something Google knows infinitely more about than monetizing video.

This kind of action may seem counter-intuitive for a portal, except that it’s already been done by fellow video site Hulu, which has made an unselfish example of linking to outside locations of entertainment fare when it doesn’t host the content itself.

Attempts to make YouTube more valuable by acquiring more valuable content haven’t been paying off. Although YouTube tried to amp up its premium content stock last year, the pace of those deals hasn’t picked up, and there’s actually been some backtracking after renegotiations fell apart with music rights holders like Warner Music Group and the UK’s Performing Rights Society. At this point it’s clear that YouTube is never going to achieve its goal of hosting all the video in the world. And that’s fine.

Unlike nearly every other web site, YouTube doesn’t need to make traffic growth its main priority. The site already has a 42.9 percent market share of video views, so relative increases are less important (not to mention approaching monopolistic). At this point, YouTube seems to be consistently the No. 26 or so web property in the U.S., with recent overall traffic growth a gentle curve at best. (Just for kicks, if you hop back in time to May 2006 the site doubled its traffic month-over-month, for a grand total of 12.6 million visitors.) Not that the site is standing still; recent improvements to video stream quality have been excellent, and would seem to be somewhat responsible for the site’s unbeatable 62.5 videos watched per viewer per month, up a full 10 videos from two months prior.

Where YouTube could really improve its usefulness is to become the ultimate video search engine. This is what the forgotten step-child, Google Video (which still awkwardly overlaps with YouTube), is supposed to be doing. But in January, YouTube had 2.9 billion searches, while Google Video had just 98 million, according to comScore. That’s not to say Google Video works perfectly and could just be ported over to YouTube — competitors like VideoSurf, Mefeedia, Blinkx, CastTV, Veveo and Pixsy seem to have all put quite a bit more effort into doing video search and discovery well. Google needs to put a little more effort into video search to compete, but it’s primed to walk away with the category on the strength of the YouTube brand alone.

An appropriate road sign for YouTube today might say “No Thru Traffic.” Once you arrive on the site, you might keep clicking around to watch more videos, but you’re unlikely to return to the rest of the Internet. Given that Google is its corporate parent, the site should see the value in letting visitors get back on the information superhighway to find what they want to watch.

The article also appeared on BusinessWeek.com

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I’ll be taking a look at the packaging, unboxing the iPod shuffle, and offering my thoughts on the hardware and software bundled with the gadget.

Unboxing

Apple seems to be continuing down the road of shrinking packaging material, and the box for the iPod shuffle is really small. It comes presented with the shuffle center stage, containing a simple manual, 3.5mm audio to USB adaptor, and the headphones.

Initial Impressions

The first thing to note, as you’d expect, is that the iPod shuffle is absolutely tiny. I’m fascinated to see where the constant shrinking of the shuffle will ultimately lead to, and I don’t think it’ll be long before you’ll struggle to find it in your pocket. The build quality is also remarkable, with the aluminum construction feeling bulletproof.

As with the previous generation, the entire device is fashioned into a large clip. You can easily attach it anywhere, and it’s sturdy enough that I wouldn’t be concerned about it falling off when running. The top of the shuffle sports a small switch which toggles between shuffling tracks or playing music sequentially.

The headphones are (unfortunately) exactly what you’d expect. They’re standard iPod headphones, albeit with a new and sleek in-line track/volume controller. They have the same ‘rubbery’ feel as recent iPod model earphones, and offer the same reasonable level of comfort and sound. Don’t expect to be blown away, though Apple should be working on an adaptor to allow you to use your own earphones in the near future.

iTunes Connectivity

Connecting to iTunes is as simple as ever, and includes a few options which haven’t been present before. Upon connecting, you’re asked to register your iPod (with a nice new graphic to show the new shuffle in the lineup):

Registering the iPod Shuffle

When setting up, you’re asked if you’d like to enable VoiceOver. This works by generating spoken audio for the names of your tracks on your Mac (or Windows machine), before transferring them to your iPod along with the music. Because of this, you’re asked if you’re happy to install the VoiceOver desktop software.

Installing VoiceOver

This integrates silently into iTunes, and you don’t really notice anything is occurring. A short downloading status message appears, and then syncing music is handled as normal. You’ll be pleased to know that disk mode is supported as before, allowing you to transfer other files on the iPod. If you’d like, you can also set a volume limit and automatically reduce the quality of audio when syncing to fit more on the device.

iTunes Settings

Track Navigation & VoiceOver

There has been a decent amount of debate over how usable the headphone remote would actually be for skipping between tracks. I’d say it’s probably the least user-friendly interface that Apple has created for the iPod to date, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still function very well.

The annoying aspect of VoiceOver is that it isn’t the quickest method of navigating your iPod’s content. There’s quite a bit of waiting involved, and it’s tricky to skip through what is being read out. Not a problem if you have two or three playlists, but increasingly annoying as you add more. While the new computer voice in Leopard was noted as a decent improvement, I still think that artificial computer vocals have some way to come before they’re anything like the real thing. ‘Alex’ is perfectly coherent, but it’s a little odd to have your track information spoken to you by a digital voice.

Commendations, Complaints and Caution

On the whole, the size reduction and multiple playlist support do make the iPod shuffle a decent improvement. It’s brilliant if you’re exercising, and the controls do allow for simple track control without fumbling with the iPod itself. I’d really appreciate a way to use my own headphones with the shuffle, and look forward to some form of adaptor being released.

It is possible to trick the iPod, by setting the track and volume playing with the default phones and switching across to your own. Far from ideal, and doesn’t allow any subsequent control of the player. If you’d like to buy a better pair of supported in-ear phones, you can do so from Apple.

However, the general fact is that most shuffle owners don’t want to carefully select specific tracks to play; there’s been no way to do this in the past (even lacking multiple playlist support), so in many senses the new version is a step forward. I’ll certainly be happy with being able to use the new navigation method and appreciate the ability to flick through playlists.

Ultimately, the new iPod shuffle is a decent looking flash drive, backed up with a seasoned and fantastic piece of software — iTunes. The player has a few areas in which improvement is needed, but represents a solid advancement of Apple’s iPod device.

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We have just raised $4.5 million, led by new investor Alloy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm with over $1 billion under management. True Ventures, our primary investors thus far, also participated in the round. The round was blessed by our angel investors, Rakesh Mathur, Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman as well. As part of the funding, Alloy Ventures general partner Ammar Hanafi will join the Giga Omni Media board.

We are going to use this new investment prudently, to enhance our technology platform and content offerings, add to our current portfolio of publications and expand our Events and Briefings businesses. We are in investing for the long-term — in ourselves.

I got to know Ammar when he was heading up corporate business development at Cisco Systems (read: V-P of the merger & acquisitions business.) As part of my job as a telecom reporter for Red Herring, I would hound him for information, often when there was none to be had. We stayed in touch periodically as our careers progressed before eventually losing touch.

Then earlier this summer, we reconnected through CEO Paul Walborsky. Our conversation quickly turned once again to my quest for clear and accurate information, but this time in relation to how I had made it the core quality around which our online media company was built. Soon we were discussing the possibility of Alloy becoming an investor.

The shift of audiences and ad dollars to online media from more traditional mediums has been significant on many levels, not least of which has been how it’s created opportunities for new models such as ours. What hasn’t changed is a desire on the part of business and technology audiences for in-depth, insightful coverage, which is what we are committed to providing.

Macro trends of our industry aside, the reason Alloy Ventures and True Ventures invested in our company is because there are lots of little things that need to happen before crazy ideas become a living, growing business. Sure we didn’t have an auspicious start to 2008, but we together overcame that little hiccup and my team has achieved a huge amount this year, among them:

• We are now providing content to a number of prominent media sites, including CNNMoney.com, Businessweek.com and NYTimes.com.
• We hosted two sold-out conferences, Structure and Mobilize. (And we are getting ready for NewTeeVee Live for 2008.)
• We acquired jkOntheRun.
• We acquired TheAppleBlog.
• We appointed Paul Walborsky CEO of the company.
• We named Carolyn Pritchard as the managing editor of our network. Our network now has seven sites: GigaOM, WebWorkerDaily, NewTeeVee, OStatic, Earth2Tech, jkOnTheRun and TheAppleBlog.
• We have doubled the number of visitors to our sites. We launched two experiments –- NewTeeVee Station and GigaOM Daily.

As the company grows, I try to reflect on the job done so far and the road ahead. We have come so far on so little, mostly by being frugal and having a realist’s view of the world. The whiplash-inducing bad winds that are plaguing the overall economy will cast a pall on Silicon Valley in general and online media as well. So it’s nice to have the ability to grow even in the face of adversity, whether organically or through acquisitions. Before I go back to work, please join me in welcoming Ammar to our family.

More importantly, dear readers, please accept my extreme gratitude for your support — through good times and bad times, for without you it would not have been possible. Thank you.

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And after that I checked on the health of the alumni of 2007. I was most interested in Pat Phelan’s company Cubic Telecom, which got a reluctant and very partial thumbs up from me a year ago. To jog your memory, Cubic has a service called MAXroam, which sells you a SIM card that saves you crazy amounts of money when roaming overseas. Instead of paying the outrageous rates to incumbent carriers, MAXroam uses a VoIP-based architecture to offer calls at pretty cut rate prices. 

Phelan is an odd man out at these Web 2.0 events. For starters, like me, he was in his 20s a long time ago. He is a telecom disrupter. And he is obsessed with real-world metrics such as revenues and profits. Now that’s old school! Perhaps that’s why I enjoy the company of this acerbic Irishman with a heart of gold. 

When I showed up at his booth, he was all flustered. Pat had just busted Michael Arrington’s iPhone. He was showing off a new iPhone SIM-unlocking hack that allows you to use any service on the iPhone including data, not just the carrier who sold you the iPhone. Something went wrong and it took about 30 minutes to get the iPhone working again. And that was long enough to have Pat reaching for those nasty things I gave up in January. After giving him hell for sucking down on the coffin nails, I asked him, how is business?

Pretty good, he said.  And it was about to get better. MAXRoam now has over 100,000 paying customers. The company is bringing in substantial revenues (and some profits.) It is enough that Phelan has no plans to raise more capital for his company. He has announced Version 2 of its service, which includes data roaming and U.S. roaming. Overseas travelers could pay 40 cents a minute for roaming in the U.S., a huge savings when compared to roaming charges of around $2.99 for every minute of talk time.

Will that be enough? I don’t think so. 

My argument last year was: Selling discount minutes is a tough business and making money off it is even tougher. What you need is scale. Phelan thinks he will get thereir by selling MAXroam V2 as a white-label solution for other consumer brands. For instance, Phelan is very close to announcing a deal with one of world’s largest travel agencies, which will sell branded MAXRoam-powered service in places like India. He feels that by working with such well-known consumer brands he can accelerate the number of people making calls using MAXroam, which would allow the company to make more money. We will check in with Pat in a couple of months and see how he’s doing. 

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