Everybody's favorite ex-Mac evangalist Guy Kawasaki has a post about something that every proposal writer knows: If you want customers to be happy, give them less product information.
Basically, some researchers at the The University of Iowa conducted a study that found that, of two groups, the group given less information was more optimistic about the product because it was easier to engage in wishful thinking.
Interesting stuff and seems to follow-on from a famous phrase sneered at by some: less is more.
Click here to read If You Want Customers to Be Happy, Give Them Less Product Information from How to Change the World.
Monday, April 14, 2008
If You Want Customers to Be Happy, Give Them Less Product Information
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Mapping the blogosphere
BBC 5's Pods and Blogs did a story today about mapping the blogosphere. Morningside Analytics is working on how all of these things connect and labeling them accordingly. See their site here.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
What to do when you've missed the proposal deadline (email)
The world's third most proposal maverick Prof Alid Loyas (behind Tom Sant and one other guy) passed this on to me today and it will help every proposal writer, salesperson and EA that has missed an email proposal deadline.
Introducing Gmail Custom Time!
Google's new service lets you send emails after the due date but time stamps them earlier (or later for that matter). This is what ever proposal writer has been waiting for!
How do I use it?
Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient's inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.
Is there a limit to how far back I can send email?
Yes. You'll only be able to send email back until April 1, 2004, the day we launched Gmail. If we were to let you send an email from Gmail before Gmail existed, well, that would be like hanging out with your parents before you were born -- crazy talk.
How does it work?
Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (see Grandfather Paradox).
How come I only get ten?
Our researchers have concluded that allowing each person more than ten pre-dated emails per year would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless.
Their findings:
N = Total emails sent
P = Probability that user believes the time stamp
φ = The Golden Ratio
L = Average life expectancy
THIS IS A GREAT FEATURE!! Could all these bloggers be wrong?
Gmail April Fools Not Very Funny. On the Upside, They Started A ... 20 hours ago by Michael Arrington
Gmail Custom Time lets users send emails with a custom date in the past, putting it in the recipients inbox at the old date:. How do I use it? Just click “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in ...
techcrunch - http://www.techcrunch.com - References
Google Introduces “Gmail Custom Time”
| 11 hours ago by Michael Santo By Michael Santo Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews You can forget ever having to send a “belated” Birthday email again with Gmail’s new Custom Time feature (although if the person doesn’t rate more than an email - not even an emailed ... Alice Hill's Real Tech News - Independent Tech - http://www.realtechnews.com - References |
Google Introduces "Gmail Custom Time"
| 11 hours ago by Technology Expert You can forget ever having to send a "belated" Birthday email again with Gmail's new Custom Time feature (although if the person doesn't rate more than an email - not even an emailed greeting card - why bother?). ... Tech-Ex - http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/ - References |
| 10 hours ago by Mark O'Neill Google’s 2008 April Fool’s joke - send emails into the past. read more digg story. Post from: Better Than Therapy - by Mark O'Neill. No unauthorized copying of this post allowed! Gmail Custom Time. Better Than Therapy - http://www.betterthantherapy.net |
| 14 hours ago by Dj Flush So here is an interesting new Gmail feature called Gmail Custom Time. You can now send mails by selecting “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your ... Sizlopedia - Technology, Web, Gadgets - http://www.sizlopedia.com |
Gmail Custom Time revolutionizes email, saves marriages
| 3 hours ago by Ben Kunz We love Google. Its web email service, Gmail, has added a brilliant "custom time" stamp feature allowing you to set any date you want on an email -- so if you forget to mail a business proposal or send Mom a birthday card, simply email ... Thought Gadgets - http://www.thoughtgadgets.com/ |
| 12 hours ago by Giannella Gmail have introduced a new beta project ‘Gmail Custom Time’. Where you can set the date of a ’sending’ email to anytime in the past.One funny thing about this project is the slogan, that is:. Be on time. Every time.* ... iSeeker - http://iseeker.wordpress.com |
Gmail Custom Time Feature and Google gDay
| 13 hours ago by Nirmal Google has introduced a new feature in Gmail- Custom Time. With this feature you can set custom time for the email sent from your inbox and also set it as read or unread. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper ... - Life Rocks! 2.0 - - http://www.nirmaltv.com |
| 12 hours ago by Barry Introducing Gmail Custom TimeTM. Read about Googles new email (beta) that allows you to be ontime everytime. “Just click “Set custom time” from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order ... Gnostalgia - http://gnostalgia.wordpress.com |
| 13 hours ago With Gmail's Custom Time you can send that email back in time and it'll appear in your recipient's inbox in the correct chronological order. You can even mark it as "read" so now you have them thinking they're going crazy! Brilliant. ... EPIC-FU blog - http://blog.epicfu.com/ |
| 8 hours ago by Gerd Leonhard Link: Gmail: Google's approach to email. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] MediaFuturist - http://www.mediafuturist.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time: For the Procrastinator
| 14 hours ago by Jeff Chenkus Leave it to Google to give you a feature that will always make you on time with your emails. An important deadline you missed? Send that email whenever you feel like it and just set the time on the email back to put you right on ... Nerd Approved - Gadgets and Gizmos - http://nerdapproved.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time - April 1st Couldn’t be any foolish !!!
| 12 hours ago by Murali Google is very well known for this. Gmail now comes with a custom time. That means you can sen INSPIONS - Murali's Thought Garage - http://blogs.inspions.net |
Gmail Custom Time - What would you do?
| 12 hours ago by Zack Gmail Custom Time!”. When I clicked the link, it took me here. Google releases an amazing new product every year on April 1st. Last year, it was a nationwide wi-fi system that runs through your toilet. ... ZackRiesland.com - (Zack's Blog) - http://zackriesland.wordpress.com/ |
Google Offers New Gmail Custom Time Setting
| 11 hours ago by Chris Lang With the new Gmail custom time you can always be on time. Running late? Send a an email from Gmail Custom Time and set the time for three hours earlier. Forgot the wife’s birthday? Send her a an email that you are at the office and ... Social Marketing and Networking, Email... - http://www.keywebdata.com |
Gmail Custom Time I knew time travel was possible! Thank you...
| 13 hours ago Gmail Custom Time. I knew time travel was possible! Thank you Google!!! (But I really wish they would add THIS feature) Psychic Plague Panacea - http://www.shawnblog.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time
| 12 hours ago by James Joyner Gmail has finally come up with something useful:. Gmail Custom Time. Heh. Share This. Outside The Beltway OTB - http://www.outsidethebeltway.com |
| 5 hours ago by Lisa Mantchev Dangit, the one thing I wish WASN'T an April Fool's Day joke. The best part is the math:. N = Total emails sent P = Probability that user believes the time stamp φ = The Golden Ratio L = Average life expectancy. Backstage at the Théâtre Illuminata - http://lisamantchev.livejournal.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time.
| 14 hours ago by The Missus What will Google think of next? Always pushing the limits of what consumers can do on the Internet, they are now allowing you to send emails back in time. What does that mean exactly? Well, they use this thing-a-ma-bob called the ... On Common Ground - http://oncommonground.blogspot.com/ |
Gmail Unveils 'Custom Time'
| 10 hours ago by Michael Gmail Custom TimeTM. Ever wish you could go back in time and send that crucial email that could have changed everything — if only it hadn’t slipped your mind? Gmail can now help you with those missed deadlines, missed birthdays and ... Discourse.net - http://www.discourse.net/ - References |
Gmail Custom Time
| 10 hours ago by guardedheart It’s the Gmail Custom Time. Basically its for people like me who is late for everything. When you write an email now you have the option to set a date from the past. Say you needed to email something to your professor before midnight ... Guardedheart's Weblog - http://guardedheart.wordpress.com |
Google: Gmail Custom Time
| 7 hours ago Google is giving the ability to select your own time on you emails so you can have proof that they were snet when YOU say they were, allowing for the possibility of never being wrong again. 9 Vote(s) Sphinn: New Topics - http://sphinn.com [ More results from Sphinn: New Topics ] |
| 11 hours ago by Matt Now you can back date e-mails when you send them. You can even mark them as “Read” before they’re sent. So say you forgot to e-mail somebody some information? Just back date it, mark it read, send it. Then tell them to check again. ... BG Willers.com - http://buthard.wordpress.com |
Gmail Custom Time…
| 11 hours ago by Chris Oh google, how I enjoy your yearly April fools shenanegans. gmail custom time. brickwindow - http://www.brickwindow.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time (and this time we mean it)
| 21 hours ago by jay Gmail Custom Time (and this time we mean it) Gmail Custom Time (and this time we mean it) Originally uploaded by qthrul. Right around 1am for whatever services BellSouth Extreme DSL for Atlanta GA ;-). It was worth the wait :) fudge.org - http://fudge.org [ More results from fudge.org ] |
| 13 hours ago by A Jacksonian Seen at GMAIL 01 APR 2008, Gmail Custom Time:. Google. Gmail Custom Time. Introducing Gmail Custom TimeTM. Be on time. Every time.*. How do I use it? Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past ... Dumb Looks Still Free - http://ajacksonian.blogspot.com/ |
GMail custom time discarded lies - hyperlinkopotamus
| 9 hours ago by guest author: evariste @ coffeeshop GMail custom time. the hyperlinkopotamus @ discarded lies - http://discardedlies.com/ |
| 14 hours ago by Fuzz Google always seems to come up with some silly April Fool’s Day joke. Today it’s “Gmail Custom Time.” It’s pretty cute - but a little too unbelievable to actually “fool” anybody. My favorite line: “Need an email to arrive 6 hours ago? ... Untitled - http://fuzzmartin.com |
| 13 hours ago by JuggoPop Gmail now lets you set your emails to show up as sent from any time in history… well back until April 1st, 2004 (the start of gmail). Oh, and you are limited to 10 per year. Good thing we all have gmail invites left over. ... JuggoPop.com - http://www.juggopop.com |
| 7 hours ago by Jonah Gmail Custom Time. Introducing Gmail Custom TimeTM. Be on time. Every time.*. How do I use it? Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your ... Untitled - http://adventuresinbrooklyn.blogspot.com/ |
Gmail Custom Time! No wait, April Fools!
| 19 hours ago by Victor Google has decided to prank all of us this year by launching Gmail Custom Time. Ever wish you could go back in time and send that crucial email that could have changed everything — [...] Loco News - http://news.mylocoworld.com/ |
Google Announces Gmail Custom Time
| 11 hours ago by Ricky montalvo Cal_blue Starting with Google, the April Fool's announcements begin: Click Here. Blog001 - http://www.blog001.net/ |
WOW! Breaking the space-time continuum with Google’s Gmail Custom Time
| 7 hours ago by admin A terrific new way to avoid all those guilt inducing moments when you realize you forgot to acknowledge a birthday, or anniversary. Now you can simply send an email today, that will show up yesterday, last month, or last year in the ... BLORGE.com - http://blorge.com/ |
| 20 hours ago by azeis This is fantastic .. I was one of the lucky beta testers and wasn't allowed to comment on it until it's official release, but it's finally here! Google Custom Time. - now you have the fantastic feature of "pre-dating" your emails. ... BlackBerry Forums at CrackBerry.com - http://forums.crackberry.com |
| 13 hours ago by adam I opened Gmail this morning to find that the big G was introducing a new feature: Gmail Custom Time. The feature lets you predate ten email messages a year. Did you sleep through your term paper deadline after one too many rounds of the ... Have You Heard - http://www.haveyouheard.net |
| 17 hours ago by XIII Swjeet, Google came up with a new interesting gmail feature allowing you to “Be on time. Every time.” I love how they keep coming up with new features to help GTD (Getting Things Done). Read more about it on the gmail site here. 13 steps - http://x111.com |
Gmail Custom Time another reason to love Google
| 21 hours ago Introducing Gmail Custom Time. This nifty new future allows you to send emails in the past. You set the custom time in the compose view and the email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipients ... Untitled - http://www.electronicsinfoline.com |
| 14 hours ago by joepro The geeks at google are at it again. They can't fool me this time, though. Actually, they didn't fool me the last time, either, but at least that prank was funny. This one, I either don't get the joke or I find it incredibly unfunny. ... joepro's journal - http://joepro.livejournal.com/ |
Introducing Gmail Custom Time - Be On Time, Every Time
| 31 Mar 2008 How do I use it? Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient's inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the ... showhype - Top Entertainment News, Videos,... - http://showhype.com/ [ More results from showhype - Top Entertainment News, Videos,... ] |
12 hours ago by Paul Introducing new Gmail Custom Time feature
Is there anything Google can’t do?
Google Is Set To Offer New Features
|
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Mies and Duke Ellington make music "Under Glass"
Join the Mies van der Rohe Society to celebrate the 122nd birthday of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Relive the golden year of 1957 and a concert originally played in Crown Hall by the Duke.
Dancing, cocktails and dessertsSaturday, March 29, 20088–11pmS. R. Crown Hall 3360 South State Street Chicago
Cost $40 - $75 per person. More info here.Free admission for IIT College of Architecture students, faculty & staff (cash bar)
Reservations required by March 21st.
Here's the history: In 1957 Crown Hall was new. Chicago architect John Vinci was in the first class to study architecture there. The school had a tradition of an annual "I-Ball" dance and Vinci became one of those responsible for putting it on. Vinci and many of the Modernists loved jazz, although Mies did say, "when you improvise you must be very careful." Vinci and his group booked Duke Ellington and his orchestra. The architecture students built a bandstand out of scaffolding, plywood and wooden forms used for concrete. It was nearly eight feet high, and they painted it all white. It must have been beautiful in Crown Hall. (I have not been able to find any photographs, but I'll ask John Vinci again. Many of the Miesians took photos and I bet some exist somewhere of this event.) Vinci remembers that Duke Ellington and his band had to climb a ladder to get onstage.
Students from the Institute of Design decorated Crown Hall that night and their main effect was to shine blue and green spotlights from outside the building, through the branches of the honey locust trees around Crown Hall, so that the shadows of the branches were seen inside the building, playing on the milk-glass that goes from the floor to above eye-level. I've seen that effect at Crown (though not with colored lights) most memorable a few years back when the buidling reopened after a renovation. IIT shone spotlights through the branches, and on the inside it makes the milk glass look more than ever like living Japanese screens. (I have photos of this effect taken recently, I'll post one soon.) Crown's glass always has that effect, even during the day.
Supposedly Duke Ellington enjoyed himself so much that night that he wanted to return to Crown Hall to record an album. It was to be called "Ellington Under Glass," - a great name - but that never happened.And students such as John Vinci remember Mies that night, sitting in a Barcelona chair, with a cigar, enjoying the evening.
Thanks to Edward Lifson for doing the heavy lifting!
http://edwardlifson.blogspot.com/2008/03/mies-and-duke-ellington-make-music.html
Relive the golden year of 1957 and a concert originally played in Crown Hall by the Duke.
Dancing, cocktails and dessertsSaturday, March 29, 20088–11pmS. R. Crown Hall 3360 South State Street Chicago
Cost $40 - $75 per person. More info here.Free admission for IIT College of Architecture students, faculty & staff (cash bar)
Reservations required by March 21st.
Here's the history: In 1957 Crown Hall was new. Chicago architect John Vinci was in the first class to study architecture there. The school had a tradition of an annual "I-Ball" dance and Vinci became one of those responsible for putting it on. Vinci and many of the Modernists loved jazz, although Mies did say, "when you improvise you must be very careful." Vinci and his group booked Duke Ellington and his orchestra. The architecture students built a bandstand out of scaffolding, plywood and wooden forms used for concrete. It was nearly eight feet high, and they painted it all white. It must have been beautiful in Crown Hall. (I have not been able to find any photographs, but I'll ask John Vinci again. Many of the Miesians took photos and I bet some exist somewhere of this event.) Vinci remembers that Duke Ellington and his band had to climb a ladder to get onstage.
Students from the Institute of Design decorated Crown Hall that night and their main effect was to shine blue and green spotlights from outside the building, through the branches of the honey locust trees around Crown Hall, so that the shadows of the branches were seen inside the building, playing on the milk-glass that goes from the floor to above eye-level. I've seen that effect at Crown (though not with colored lights) most memorable a few years back when the buidling reopened after a renovation. IIT shone spotlights through the branches, and on the inside it makes the milk glass look more than ever like living Japanese screens. (I have photos of this effect taken recently, I'll post one soon.) Crown's glass always has that effect, even during the day.
Supposedly Duke Ellington enjoyed himself so much that night that he wanted to return to Crown Hall to record an album. It was to be called "Ellington Under Glass," - a great name - but that never happened.And students such as John Vinci remember Mies that night, sitting in a Barcelona chair, with a cigar, enjoying the evening.
Thanks to Edward Lifson for doing the heavy lifting!
http://edwardlifson.blogspot.com/2008/03/mies-and-duke-ellington-make-music.html
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Any advice for proposal people needing to get greater sponsorship from senior colleagues within the business?
The Proposal Guys posed this to Patricia Volmer, retired “Proposal Witch”, in an interview on their site. Patricia's response:
I firmly believe the only way to get greater sponsorship is to educate senior management. In our case, I gave a mini-presentation to people at various levels within the business - anyone who would be asked to contribute or whose buy-in we needed. During my presentation, I presented many of the points I picked up from BJ when I attended a conference which he presented. Many of the people to whom I presented commented that they had not previously understood the work involved to produce a proposal. They had a mentality of “it’s all done by elves and magic”. (BJ used this term during his presentation.) Sr. management needs to understand what it takes to develop, produce and submit high-quality proposals and not support the elves and magic mentality in order for the quality of proposals and the way in which they are produced to improve.
Click here to see the full interview. It is insightful.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Black Keys new album produced by Danger Mouse
Triple J reports that the Black Keys, keepers of the 2120 S. Michigan Avenue sound, have a new album on the way produced by "hip hop wonder-guy Danger Mouse." Danger Mouse is the one producer everybody knows, even if they don't. Think not? Click here.
What does this have to do with proposal writing? Well...proposal writers need music. Without music you don't get proposals. So...
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Proposal win rates
I was reading Grant Thornton's 13th Annual Government Contractor Industry Highlights Book and came across some interesting numbers about proposals:
- Survey participants report a 33% win rate from proposals for non-sole source business. The win rate jumps to 58% when the company establishes a special business unit, such as a joint venture or a limited liability corporation to bid the work.
"The Annual Government Contractor Industry Survey was developed by Grant Thornton for
companies considering entering the government contracting arena. We hope that existing industry participants will also find the survey results of interest. Survey findings provide a comprehensive look at the industry as a whole, as well as detailed information on the day-to-day business of being a government contractor."
So basically, if you are writing proposals to the governement: caveat emptor.
You can order the full report through Melissa Ford (T 703.847.7553; E Melissa.Ford@gt.com)
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Good News - Deborah's Proposal Writing Blog is Back!
My Google alert for "proposal writing" had a very unexpected surprise today*.One of the original proposal bloggers (the original?) is back! Deborah Kluge, of Deborah's Proposal Writing Blog (aka proposalwriter.com), is back.
Deborah last posted on September 12, 2005 saying that she was, "Blogging From Maine" - We're here in Portland...," and had not been heard of since. Until today. Maine must have been really, really nice!
Deborah was one of the first web resources I ever turned to for proposal writing advice. Deborah gets it! Look at her site and her old blog posts for some idea of what I am talking about. Expect big things in the future.
Welcome back Deborah! Someday you'll have to tell us where you've been!
Click here to go straight to Deborah's site.
*Two if you count the Black LGBT History Day 17: Gil Gerald entry which said, "Over the last fifteen years, proposal writing by Gil Gerald and Associates, Inc. has resulted in millions—more than six million for just one agency in the past three years--in services addressing HIV services, substance abuse treatment ..."
Friday, February 15, 2008
Deliver a Presentation like Steve Jobs
Don't we all want to present like Steve Jobs at the Macworld keynote? Effortlessly, comfortably, and just plain well?
OK, maybe those less interested in public speaking would rather listen to someone that is like Steve at the next two-day company meeting rather than old [fill-in-the-blank] who is the worst speaker ever!
Either way, BusinessWeek's Carmine Gallo (who I can't decide if he looks like he sounds on BNET'S Useful Commute podcasts or not - you decide) brings us "a 10-part framework you can use to wow your own audience." According to Gallo you need to:
1. Set the theme.
2. Demonstrate enthusiasm.
3. Provide an outline.
4. Make numbers meaningful.
5. Try for an unforgettable moment.
6. Create visual slides.
7. Give 'em a show.
8. Don't sweat the small stuff.
9. Sell the benefit. 10. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
The full article is here. Read it for yourself or leave a copy on that co-workers chair!
And no, no one wants to speak like Fake Steve Jobs.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
4 things you need to do to become successful
In one of those moments that seemed like a good idea at the time but subsequently was rightfully veiwed as over-the-top, I adapted some of Gitomer's writings (from the Little Black Book of Connections) and said to our receptionist that there were four things you need to do to be successful:
1. Write
2. Read
3. Meet (people)
4. Speak
Upon further thought, it is about that simple. No?
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