The Geek Blog of Codora
Posted by Duff OMelia Fri, 11 May 2007 15:32:00 GMT
I thought I’d mention that I recently created a technical blog called The Geek Blog of Codora. It’s a place for me to share any geeky/technical lessons learned.
Ron Paul
Posted by Duff OMelia Thu, 10 May 2007 19:29:00 GMT
I’ve never really blogged about politics before, but I must say that Ron Paul looks like an excellent candidate for President in 2008.
UPDATE: Well… I’ve now blogged a few times about politics. If you’re interested, you can check out Among These.
Soapadoo on a Sign
Posted by Duff OMelia Thu, 05 Oct 2006 06:55:00 GMT
This is some high quality marketing, heh? :)
Idea from: The Ship’s Log
A Remarkable Offer Part 2
Posted by Duff OMelia Fri, 08 Sep 2006 20:35:00 GMT
I wanted to mention that I recently took part in the Q&A session that Seth Godin offered to people buying 11 copies of his book. I won’t go into any details, but suffice it to say that it was incredible. He is a marketing super genius and he had a huge impact on the entrepreneurs on the phone call. I greatly enjoyed it.
I’ll also say that there are gonna be lots of changes at Soapbox over the next few weeks. He had ideas that I don’t think I ever would have thought of. And even if I had thought of them, I don’t think I would have had the guts to proceed with them because they’re so different than what I was thinking. I’m really excited about the feedback he provided.
A Remarkable Offer
Posted by Duff OMelia Wed, 16 Aug 2006 09:46:00 GMT
As many of you know, I’m diligently trying to make Soapbox so remarkable that customers feel that they need to tell their friends about the site. Seth Godin’s Books have taught me that passionate customers can do a much better job of marketing than I can. I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin.
I am quite confident that Seth would have a number of ideas about how to make Soapbox more Purple. I’m quite sure that he would have ideas about which sneezers I should be trying to reach to turn Soapbox into an Idea Virus.
So I started thinking about how I might provide Seth Godin some value. I started thinking things like, “Is there anything I might do for him such that he might be willing to talk to me for a few minutes about Soapbox? I wonder if he’d be interested in some kind of equity stake or some kind of revenue/profit sharing in exchange for some verbal collaboration?”
THEN, I read his blog post this morning. WOW. He is offering the chance to participate in a call-in Q&A session for people willing to buy 11 of his books. I find this to be an incredible offer. A remarkable offer. In fact, the only reason I’m writing this blog post is because I’m so surprised by the offer. I think that Seth Godin is passionate about what he does and he enjoys helping folks. It seems to me that the businesses and individuals who are most willing to serve those around them are often the ones who prosper.
So, I’ve emailed Seth in the hopes that there might still be room in the Q&A Session. We’ll see!
Some Pleasant Surprises
Posted by Duff OMelia Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:43:00 GMT
Now that some friends have been writing reviews on Soapbox, I’ve recognized a few unexpected things.
The site doesn’t have to be an enormous hit in order to provide a ton of value to the people in “my” network. So even if it doesn’t have 4,000,000 reviews out there, I can still benefit if “my network” is relatively filled out and a number of friends start writing reviews. I have learned a ton of things from the reviews that have been posted so far and it’s only been 2 days. I thought I knew my brother Russ pretty well. He’s posted a ton of reviews of things I never realized he’s used. They’ve prompted many conversations between us and I think we’ve learned more about each other through Soapbox. I’m not sure whether other networks of people will use Soapbox enough to experience this benefit.
I have found that there’s value in having my opinions of things in digital form. I’ve found myself emailing the links of reviews to people. For example, many have been asking about the designer of Soapbox. Rather than me crafting an email about Richard Powell, I can just point them to my review of his work. Someone asked about how I’m liking the switch to using a Mac. I just point them to the review. It seems quite efficient.
Russ has made me realize that we have used thousands of products and services. There are countless things to review.
My mom has recently made me realize that we naturally exchange reviews all the time with friends and loved ones. We’re constantly comparing notes, sharing experiences, and learning from each other. Soapbox enables this communication to happen very efficiently with a ton of people.
Soapbox could start to connect friends of friends in real life because of the reviews that were written online. That would be pretty excellent. We’ve already had a case hinting at this when my wife Kelly went to a playgroup with a few other moms with their kids. One of the moms there was talking about Jen’s Tilapia Review! This mom has never met Jen and has never tried Tilapia. But if and when they do meet, they’ll have some context for conversation. It’s just exciting to me that a digital process on the web hasn’t replaced human interaction. It seems to have encouraged it and fostered it.
Pride
Posted by Duff OMelia Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:17:00 GMT
Just a quick post on a thought I’ve been having. After starting to market Soapbox 2 days ago, people have started using the site. People started signing up. Reviews were being written. I started getting some constructive feedback and some compliments.
And then I started thinking things like, “Maybe this site could be useful to folks. Maybe it could be a hit. Maybe I’m good at this. Maybe I’m just talented and the things that are happening are all because of me. I’m great.” It’s amazing to me how easy it is to have issues with pride. It’s amazing to me how easily I can start to take all the credit for the things that go well in my life. It’s amazing how quickly I can forget how many parts of my life have been COMPLETELY out of my control.
I thought I’d list just a few. I didn’t give myself life. I didn’t give myself a brain. I didn’t give myself the particular aptitudes that I have. I wasn’t responsible for the series of events causing me to live at this time and in this place in North Carolina. I’m unable to add one day to my life through my own will. I cannot begin to count all of the events and circumstances in my life that just seemed to work out in an incredible way. Some would call these events lucky breaks. They all add up to where I’m at right now. And they were outside my control.
I pray that I never forget the gifts God has given me. Yes, I’ve sometimes worked hard at stuff to accomplish some goals. I pray that I’ll never forget that the goals would not be possible were it not for God’s help. I would not be the person I am today were it not for the most amazing gift I’ve ever received, God’s gift of His Son Jesus.
What is this place?
Posted by Duff OMelia Tue, 18 Apr 2006 09:49:00 GMT
Well… I never thought I’d be a part of the blogging world, but here I sit. So what is the Blog of Codora anyway? I’m Duff OMelia and I have two primary goals for this blog:- I’d like people to see the entrepreneurial journey from an idea to a business that provides value. I’d like to share some of the things I’m learning about as I develop businesses and figure out how on earth to be an entrepreneur. Perhaps you’ll be able to learn from both the good decisions I’ve made and the mistakes I don’t want to make again.
- This is the place where announcements will be made about Codora’s products and services. You’ll be able to hear news about Soapbox and any other products that Codora makes in the future.
