Sponsor

We wrote in July about speculation that Google will start rolling out offline support for both Gmail and Google Calendar through Google Gears within the next six weeks. Didn't happen.

However Yahoo Mail did come up with offline functionality in July - it gave offline access to all free and paid Yahoo Mail users through the Yahoo Zimbra Desktop. Earlier this week Yahoo announced further Zimbra integration, this time with its Calendar app.

So Google is well and truly behind the times with offline support for web mail. However the Google white coats are having a fine old time tinkering with mail stuff in their labs - tonight Google Labs announced Advanced IMAP Controls, which lets you "fine-tune your Gmail IMAP experience."

To be fair, Google probably isn't worried about Zoho coming out with offline functionality in its mail product before Gmail has. For one thing Google is so big it can afford to wait until it's good and ready, despite Gmail fans yearning for offline support! But also Google probably sees Zoho less as a competitor at this point (even though Zoho does compete directly against Google Apps) and more as an evangelist for its technology - such as Google Gears.

To access mail offline in Zoho Mail, you'll need Google Gears installed on your browser - at this point IE and Firefox are supported. Chrome and Safari support is coming. According to Zoho's blog, you can also download images and attachments in offline mode. Another cool feature is that Zoho Mail automatically detects your connectivity and switches to online/offline modes.

Here is the video, also available on Google Code blog:

In that post, I gave examples of how naysayers reacted to social media tools in the past - and how they were left in the dust of those who experimented with these web 2.0 tools. So, where do these naysayers come from? Why is there a resistance to web 2.0? In this post I'll explain how to sell social media to those people and/or your boss!

Sponsor

This is a guest post by DJ Francis, founder and author of OnlineMarketerBlog.com

Your Responsibility

Seth Godin says it's not because your boss is stupid. It's not that your boss is ignorant of Facebook, but that they know the 30-second spot. Seth says that the best way of changing the world is to open the close-minded and you do that by presenting more data in a palatable way. It's your job to teach your boss about web 2.0 tools.

Here are some suggestions for ways other companies have used social media tools. Consider how these could apply to your business. Be creative and don't think about what you could do - think about what your customers want. Then determine which social media tools can help you deliver what they want.

Ways To Sell Social Media Tools To Your Boss

1. Keeping Up With The Joneses

Your boss doesn't want to get left behind and it's getting more likely that s/he's seen some of this fancy social media stuff at work. Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson report that familiarity with and usage of social media within the business world (the Inc. 500 in this particular study) has nearly doubled in the past 12 months.

This means that your boss is likely primed for a conversation about using social media in your business. You just need to fit a web 2.0 tactics to your current business objectives. Your boss might just be looking for someone to lead the charge.

Barnes and Mattson report that "When queried on the importance of social media, 26% of the respondents [Inc. 500 members] in 2007 felt social media is 'very important' to their business and marketing strategy. That figure rose to 44% in approximately one year."

2. Listening (Customer/Market Research)

Social media offers infinite market research, branding, and listening opportunities. I dare you to search for "[Your brand] sucks" and see what you find. Listening - a simple yet often over-looked aspect of human life - may be the Web 2.0 killer app and smart companies are catching on.

TNS/Cymfony found that "Revolutionaries" - companies that focused on listening rather than selling - "have a more sophisticated approach to creating strong relationships with consumers and as a result are gaining a competitive edge," said Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Jim Nail. (Bill Green at MakeTheLogoBigger concurs that social media leads to listening that eventually leads to monetization.)

When I heard AOL had bought Bebo earlier this year I cringed just thinking about the energetic startup in the clutches of a Web 1.0 holdover. From The Economist: "The non sequitur is to assume that the new service will be a revenue-generating business in its own right." But the service could be amazingly valuable if marketers used it as a listening mechanism.

3. Responding

Social media gives marketers the chance to give quick feedback and break down unnecessary walls. Businesses are using Twitter to personalize a brand (@Zappos), quickly solve customer's problems (@ComcastCares), and create more immersive interactive media experiences (@_S_A_R_A_H_ from the Sci Fi Channel's Eureka).

And these comprise only one social media tool. Response ideas are endless considering the vast array of tools at your disposal.

And speaking of response, the best way to get that is...

]]> http://www.blogjunkies.com/10/10/2008/5-ways-to-sell-social-media-to-your-boss/feed/ http://www.blogjunkies.com/10/10/2008/walmart-has-a-change-of-heart-decides-to-maintain-drm-servers/ http://www.blogjunkies.com/10/10/2008/walmart-has-a-change-of-heart-decides-to-maintain-drm-servers/#comments Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:59:00 +0000 Blog Junkies http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/10/walmart-has-a-change-of-heart-decides-to-maintain-drm-servers/ Filed under: Portable Audio

Continue reading Walmart has a change of heart, decides to maintain DRM servers

Filed under: Portable Audio

Back by popular demand, it's the Walmart DRM servers! You heard right -- just days after Wally World announced its plans to turn the screw on its digital rights management servers, we're now being shown a big "just kidding." According to an e-mail (posted in full after the break) sent out to previous downloaders, the mega-corp be leaving things as-is for the foreseeable future, and it's all because of "feedback from the customers." In other words, those actions it urged you to take late last month are no longer required, though we'd still back those tracks up on CD just in case. Can't be too careful, you know.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Walmart has a change of heart, decides to maintain DRM servers

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>

Like the advice being given by Conway and Sequoia Capital, Gurley is urging his companies to remain calm, but get tight control of their finances, starting now.

Gurley also says for companies to expect “across-the-board reductions” in valuations, and a tough market for raising money - “Basically, the cost of capital is going way up.” Hedge funds are probably out of the picture for startup financings, he says, and corporate, strategic and angel money will decline.

Gurley also notes that major opportunities will become available to those who “play the game frugally.” He says “The real key is to have a keen understanding of the game on the field and to be the one that adjests swiftly, rather than the one that moves after it’s become blatantly obvious to everyone else it’s time to move.”

The full memo is below.

The recent downturn in the public markets (now known affectionately as “the U.S. 
Financial Crisis”) is obviously on everyone’s mind.   Some of the entrepreneurs and 
executives with which we are privileged to work have reached out and asked what 
this means for private companies, the VC world, and Benchmark.   As such, I thought 
t might be a good idea to send you our thoughts on the current situation, and 
ispecifically what it means for venture backed companies. 

 From a high level, this downturn is different from the Internet bubble of 1999.  First, 
the last downturn started in our backyard.  We were the speculators; this time it is 
someone else.  This means that the “crash on the beach” wont be nearly as severe.  
In the Internet crash, many times the customer was actually another VC?backed 
company and as such, there was a strong negative spiral.  That said, while this 
downturn might be shallower than last; it could last longer in terms of absolute 
time.  The American consumer is super?leveraged which wasn’t true before the 
1930’s or the 1970’s.  The overall economy will have trouble gaining momentum 
ith this debt anchor, and my best guess is the contraction is not finished yet.  As 
wsuch, it might take a long, long time before we see glory days  again.  

 Like every major shift in the environment, this one will offer  opportunities as well as 
risks.  JP Morgan was able to buy two great assets as substanti al discounts with 
government assurances, precisely because they played the game f rugally while 
others were more risk seeking.  The real key is to have a keen  understanding of the 
game on the field and to be the one that adjusts swiftly, rather than the one that 
moves after it’s become blatantly obvious to everyone else it’s time to move.  Many 
companies that thrived post 2001?2003 were simply “Last Man Standing” in their 
ndustry.  It doesn’t sound all that glamorous, but it was the exact right strategy to 
ideploy at the time.  

 It terms of defining our current situation, let’s start with the impact on the actual 
capital in “venture capital”.  The institutions (limited partners) that typically invest 
with Benchmark and other venture funds are not the ones on the cover of the 
financial news everyday.  In fact, these limited partners are typically quite 
conservative and have a very long?term perspective.  Certainly, new precedents are 
being set every day, so it’s hard to say the word “never” in this environment.  Still, 
e are unaware of any situation where capital availability for  us or any other VC 
wfirm is in question.   

 With that said, I think access to other forms of capital that have recently been 
available to venture backed companies may be dramatically impacted.  As an 
example, one would naturally assume that the hedge?fund rounds of late?2007 and 
early?2008 are no longer available.  Additionally, we would expect that 
strategic/corporate investments, venture debt facilities, and even angel financings 
could all contract considerably.  In all previous economic downturns, this was 
certainly the case. 

 
One would also expect across?the?board reductions in follow?on financing 
valuations.  As financial markets deteriorate three things happen.  First, investors 
get nervous.  As such, they tend to “choke up on the bat” and be more conservative.  
We have already witnessed skittishness on behalf of follow?on funders, as well as a 
lengthening of the time it takes to complete a fundraising.  The second reason 
valuations will fall is that the public market comparable valuations have fallen 
materially.  This will have a direct impact on exit prices, be they an eventual I.P.O., or 
M&A.  In fact, I was recently at a gathering of corporate development execs, and 
their number one concern was that private company executives have not realized 
that the scoring system was just reset (expectations too high).   Lastly, investors are 
more concerned that a protracted economic downturn will negatively impact each 
private company’s specific results, increasing the likelihood of a revenue or cash 
flow miss.   

 If we leave you with one message it would be this: financings as we know it just got 
a whole lot tougher.  Basically, the cost of capital is going way up.  This is, of course, 
a sweeping generalization.  Some of you have tons of cash, and some of you are 
profitable, so the immediate impact will obviously be less.  That said, if you do need 
to go to the market for capital in the foreseeable future, you should consider that the 
environment will be much less hospitable than it has been for the past 3?4 years 
which have actually been pretty benign), and that this less hospitable environment 
(could persist for time measured in years not quarters.   

 Another obvious strategy is to extend the runway.  Hopefully, everyone is aware of 
exactly how many “months of cash” they have at their current cash level and burn 
rate.  If you have a method for increasing this runway, we think you should do it, and 
quickly.  .  This serves two purposes.  First, it gives you the opportunity to outlast 
the competition, and second, it puts more time between now and when you are 
forced to re?enter the capital markets.  One could argue you should draw down your 
bank lines right now.  Why?  When you need the money, the fundi ng source may just 
say no (they did last time).  What are you going to do?  Sue them?  Take away their 
warrant coverage?  So what.  If they get cold feet – you won’t see the cash, I don’t 
are what the term sheet says.  The bottom line is that you should watch “months of 
cash” as your most important variable.  

 Be calm, but pragmatic.  The purpose of this letter isn’t to send everyone off in a 
panic.  It’s simply to convey that the rules of the game have changed.  One key 
problem is that during these market downturns, most people don’t adjust quickly 
enough.  As an example, not hiring heads that were previous TBH isn’t really a 
reduction in expenses.  Also, 10% cuts rarely lead to anything other than multiple 
rounds of cuts, which have a harrowing affect on culture.  It’s easy to mentally 
nderstand this is the right thing to do.  It is ten times harder to make the actual 
udecisions to affect change.  These are extremely hard decisions. 

 You may know that I am involved with Zillow.  They did a survey of their users to 
ask what they thought was the current impact on home prices across America.  The 
average answer was that homes in America were down 20?30% in value.  The 
survey then asked what the user thought had happened to the value of their own 
home.  Miraculously they thought their own home had retained value against the 
odds!  Surprised?  It is human nature.  As most of you read thi s, you will be thinking 
in the back of your mind why your company is different than the average company 
like these homeowners) and why you are the exception that doesn’t need to take 
(action right now.  This could be a rationalization. 

 Recently, I spoke with an entrepreneur who as a CEO during the dot?com crash and 
oversaw a headcount reduction from 130 to 28 (through two major layoffs), and 
eventually back to profitability and an IPO.  If you think a 10% layoff is tough, 
imagine laying?off 78% of your employees.  It is one of the hardest things I have ever 
seen anyone do.  I recently asked him how that experience has shaped the way he 
ould advise people on running a startup.  He had a list at the tip of his tongue 
(included now): 

1. You don’t realize how fast things spin out of control. There are self?
reinforcing negative affects in a downturn.
2. Don’t spend money until you have to
a. Don’t move out of your office until you are sitting on top of one 
another 
b. Don’t hire any incremental employee until you just can’t stand it 
c. Don’t get more capacity in your data center until your site is going down     
3. Better to be “late to the party” than to be early and run out of money
4. Line item review of the budget every month (legal, accounting, everything)
5. Not just a CEO mindset, but a company mindset
a. Everyone must buy into the process
b. But in a calm way - not run for the hills
6. Create 2 or 3 different burn scenarios - know at any point in time how many months of cash is left.
 
I include this mainly because it highlights a “very high bar” in terms of frugality.  
It’s one thing to say you don’t “waste money” and another to live as lean as you 
possibly can.  As mentioned before, in market downturns, frugality is not only a 
virtue, but also it could be the difference between survival and failure.  
 Many great companies emerged from the 2001?2002 time?frame.  Companies 
built during tough times typically have incredible focus, great cultures, and a 
true desire to compete and win in all environments.  For many, this downturn 
period could be opportunistic: a real chance to differentiate yourselves from the 
other players in the market.  However, it is imperative to understand that the 
environment has just shifted to one where differentiation will  likely be defined 
not by aggressiveness, but rather by adaptability.  

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors