Facebook > Amazon

In the first two quarters of 2011 Facebook had 1.6 Billion in revenue and about $800 million in operating income. Emarketer says they are on to make $4.6 Billion in 2011.

To put it in perspective, Facebook is already making more per quarter than Amazon. So now if Amazon is valued at around $110 billion, then is Facebook undervalued at $70 billion?

One example of how Facebook monetizes is through Zynga. You know… Farmville, Words With Friends, and Mafia Wars. Yeah, they sent Facebook $250 million in the first half of the year.

Now, what I am saying here is what I have been saying since 2006. Facebook is going to be the most valuable company in the world. Personally I think they might even compete with our current economic system. However, that’s another blog post.

I was planning for months to execute this strategy.  Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts and timelines did not pan out.  However, I at least put together a pretty cool proposal on how this was going to be executed.

Hopefully this helps you out and if you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to comment!

Google+ is Already LinkedIn

Since the Google+ launch over two months ago, there has been a roar from speculators seeking to define what Google’s attempt at social networking really is about.  Quite frankly, I don’t even think Google knows.  However, after picking apart the product, much of my own speculation has led me to believe that Google+ is a Linkedin killer.

Not Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.  LinkedIn.

For starters, a ton of business actively occurs within the gmail platform.  Google Apps currently supports over 3 million businesses.  It already has great tools like Calendar, Docs, and Chat.  There is an app market already deployed.  Nothing else, makes more sense.

Being the “Professional” network is where they should aim to be, as the “Personal” network is already held by Facebook.  We all know LinkedIn is sub-par, but everyone tells us we need it.  Why?

In my case, I will start using Google+ as if it was my LinkedIn.

Finally, a subject that has no distinct answer.  Love is perceived as a polarity of hate, which in this case, values it an extreme measure.  This instantly creates stipulations around this unfamiliar subject.

When you see love in movies or television, you are being projected a vision of stability and limitation.  Guarantees and rules do not enable anything to truly grow.  At least, not like “network effects“.

I see love in everything.  In this blog post.  Behind the products of Facebook.  Layered in the keys of Avicci‘s beats.  How my mother thinks about me.  During the creation of Prometheus Springs.  The way I truly get excited when I see someone experience that same feeling. In preparation for TED talks from their speakers.  In everything, but only in moments.

When thinking about love it is more balanced than anything.  It happens without force and unfolds naturally.

Take all of the successful networks and new businesses that are growing exponentially.  They are all companies that deliver love.  Their intentions are to build products that people love.  In doing so, employee’s make sure to build things they love.  In turn, there is an exponential effect that we are only beginning to understand.

Writing this post about love to hopefully inspire you to look at everything with love, is simply love.

What is love to you?

Are you a celebrity or do you manage a celebrity brand? Are you looking to humanize your online identity?  Well then this is for the both of you.  There is not much content targeted for celebrities to consume, so I thought this would help a little bit for the artists looking to manage and grow their following online.  These 7 tools will get you started on your road to connecting your community.

WhoSay is a service that helps artists, athletes and iconic personalities connect with their fans. When you see someone posting via WhoSay, you’ll know that it’s real, authentic messages, photos and videos coming from your favorite people.  As an artist you own your content, as it is then ‘pushed’ to your preferred networks as a WhoSay post.  WhoSay is growing their business model with their celebrities to create more opportunities for online monetizing.

Celebrity endorsements in social media.  I have never worked with Ad.ly but have colleagues who have.  Test it out for yourself.

Started as platform for musicians, however the digital game is enabling musicians, actors, directors, writers, and any form of artist to use mp3, video, and various forms of intellectual property to connect with their audiences.  Topspin connects you to your fans by creating tools that help you market, sell, and track your results across the web.

iTunes is self explanatory.  They had a record earning this 2011 Q1 for over $1.5b!  You can sell anything digital on here.  Awesome.  Use it.

This is the most artistic community on the web, besides those awesome people over at DeviantArt.com.  Like every single artist in the world, seriously.  Maybe Tumblr will squash Twitter?  I really really like this and yes it is necessary to have this, a twitter, and a facebook.

Obviously the most gigantic network on the planet.  Literally.  People keep saying 500 million users, but that was last year.  I’d say at about 750m now and 1 billion by the end of the year.  It’s not stopping.  I guess if you don’t want your product social, then don’t use it.  Oh yeah, and Facebook Credits are basically the new monetary system.

Not sure how long this will last, but it’s good for now.  My twitter followers have already trickled to my other networks, so the dependance on this platform is sketchy.  They are currently in turmoil at the offices and there hasn’t been much innovation.  However, I hope they turn it out.  Ironic to me it seems that what everyone says about Twitter is actually true about Facebook, while all the negative comments about Facebook actually reflect more on Twitter’s actions.  None the less, it’s a great tool and I hope someone Facebook’s this MySpace.

If you have any suggestions on tools that celebrities, artists, or individuals looking to grow their online social presence, then please leave them in the comments.  How have your experiences been with these tools?

This is a very deep question.  There is no one way to go about it, especially since there are several languages, devices, and platforms that are not on the same page.  Before you determine anything, you need to first figure out some very basic qualifications.

1. Have an idea!

It all starts with that “A-HA!” moment.  You hopefully find a solution to the worlds problems like Facebook or you think of the most addicting idea game angry birds, the results are the same.  Success through prosperity and abundance.  Determine the following things:

• Does this solve a problem for a ‘niche’ audience?
• Are you passionate and absolutely love the idea?
• Is it entertaining?
• Are you evolving a current product?
• Does it have a gaming dynamic?

2. Tool Belts

iPhone

• Join the Apple iPhone Developer Program ($99)
• Buy an iPod, iPhone, or iPad
• Get an Intel-based Mac computer with Mac OS X 10.5.5,
• Prepare a Non-Disclosure Agreement (here’s a sample) *
• Download and install the latest version of the iPhone SDK if you don’t already have it.
• Buy a moleskin

Android

• Go to Google App Inventor and read everything.

WIndows

• Who knows why you would want to do this, but you can try it out here.  (I’m biased because I’ve never used it, so don’t take that comment seriously.)

BlackBerry

• The latter.

3. Where are you a star?

What makes you valuable?  Are you the angel that everyone wishes they had or a beast objective-C, or self-taught android genius?  Or maybe you are the social networker that has social capital.  If not him or her, you just have a good idea and you want to make it happen.

Regardless the position, you just need to understand that you are going to have to adapt to any role that is necessary.  ”Bootstrapping” and embracing entrepreneurism is the only thing you can do.  This will include tasks like researching, administration, designing, developing, marketing, promoting, or even taking out the trash every now and then.

Over years of entrepreneuring, I have learned that your team is vital to the situation.  It may not be employees even, but your family, friends, vendors, or anyone you surround yourself with makes a huge difference in how you are going to succeed.

4. Research. Research. Research

Use Google, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, and every single way you can find out more about what you are trying to do.  This will help you save time whether its discovering that someone else already did this, you have a great opportunity, or you have a small time frame.

• What problem does your app solve?
• What products have you seen that perform a similar task?
• How do successful apps present information to users?
• How can you build on what works and make it unique?
• What value does your app bring to your audience?

5. Understand your UI

Whether you are building on an android, iPhone, iPad, or android tablet you need to have a full understanding of its capabilities and what you want to do with it.

• How do well-designed apps navigate from screen to screen?
• How do they organize information?
• How MUCH information do they present to the user?
• How do they take advantage of the iPhone’s unique characteristics: the accelerometer, swiping features, pinch, expand and rotate functions?

Go to the app stores and play with the top rated games and see why they are successful.

6. Target your market!

We assume here that you’ve already determined that your app will bring value and that you will have a raging audience for your app. Well, fine, they are raging fans, but who are they really? What actions will they take to achieve their goals within the app?

If it’s a game, maybe they want to beat their high score. Or perhaps they are a first time player – how will their experience differ from someone who is getting a nice case of brain-rot playing your game all day?

If it’s a utility app, and your audience wants to find a coffee shop quickly, what actions will they take within the app to find that coffee shop? Where are they when they’re looking for coffee? Usually in the car! Do present an interface that requires multiple taps, reading and referencing a lot? Probably not! This is how thinking about how real-life intersects design.

Action: Line item out the different types of people who will use your app. You can even name them if you want to make the scenarios you draw out as real as possible.

7. Pre-Plan

Sketch your app online or offline.  You can use your moleskin to cut out pieces or you can use Adobe Photoshop to speed up the process.  Depending on your creative abilities, you will know what you have to do.  If not, try something until it works!

8. What is your timeline?

Do you have a deadline for a launch?  Is the market closing?  Don’t have a deadline?  Find out and make it realistic.  Sometimes I get requests from agencies that want a week to design something.  This is not reasonable, unless you have nothing scheduled and your ready to take on the job 24/7.

9. Developing it

Designer

If you are a designer, download the iPhone GUI Photoshop template or our iPhone PSD Vector Kit. Both are collections of iPhone GUI elements that will save you a lot of time in getting started. If you’ve solidified your layout during sketching, drawing up the screens will be less of a layout exercise and more about the actual design of the app.

If you are not a designer, hire one! It’s like hiring an electrician to do electrical work. You can go to Home Depot and buy tools to try it yourself, but who wants to risk getting zapped? If you’ve followed steps 1–3, you’ll have everything you need for a designer to get started.

When looking for a designer, try to find someone who has experience designing for mobile devices. They may have some good feedback and suggested improvements for your sketches. A few places to look for designers: Coroflot, Crowdspring, eLance. When posting your job offer, be very specific about your requirements, and also be ready to review a lot of portfolios.

Programmer

You can learn how to do it yourself, or search on places like twitter, facebook, quora, odesk, elance, or solvate.  The best solution is to learn it yourself then seek out a partner.

10. Distribute

iPhone

If you are working with a developer make sure to ask them the following:

• Create your Certificates
• Define your App ID’s
• Create your Distribution Provisioning Profile
• Compile the application
• Upload to iTunes Connect

If you don’t have a developer make sure to use the resources above to find the best match.

If you are the developer then make sure to be organized and have your strategy layed out to save you time and money.

Android

If you are working with a developer make sure to ask him the following:

• Did you conform to the developer distribution agreement?
• All applications must be signed. The system will not install an application that is not signed.
• You can use self-signed certificates to sign your applications. No certificate authority is needed.
• When you are ready to release your application for end-users, you must sign it with a suitable private key. You can not publish an application that is signed with the debug key generated by the SDK tools.
• The system tests a signer certificate’s expiration date only at install time. If an application’s signer certificate expires after the application is installed, the application will continue to function normally.
• You can use standard tools — Keytool and Jarsigner — to generate keys and sign your application .apk files.
• Once you have signed the application, use the zipalign tool to optimize the final APK package.

If you want to learn on your own then O’Reilly has some great ways for you to distribute your Android application.

11. Marketing

Whever you do, its making sure that you have access, interaction, and create compelling experiences.  The following is a list of things you can do to increases success.

• Pre-launch campaign to create expectation about app
• Post-launch campaigns via mobile, social networks, videos, etc.
• In-app campaign via app store’s other popular apps
• Unique and creative animated mobile  app video for your app
• App review site submission and coverage
• News and industry related website and blog coverage
• Paid advertising on targeted websites
• Review generation to increase app listing rankings
• Suggestions for new app upgrades based on user feedback
• Maintaining and Monitoring communication stream with users to ensure app engagement
• Search Engine Optimization and content development

12. Don’t knock the hustle!

Keep at it, moving, and don’t stop.  That’s the only guarenteed you will succeed.

From literary nerd to tech geek

For the last two and a half years I have been drifting here and there contemplating my post-collegiate blues. Destiny didn’t do me any favors as I graduated college in the spring of ill-fated 2008. I graduated with degree in Honors English, a 3.8 GPA, membership in too many Honor Societies to remember, and the recipient of various scholarships. This looked great on paper, but there was one thing I didn’t have — a clue what I was going to do with it.

I’m not going to bore you with my life story so here’s the abbreviated version. My mediocre LSAT score prevented me from pursuing law school — I had enough sense not to go in for student loans. From there, I ended up as a Ford model which brought me from Miami to L.A. My love of carbs and hostility towards the anonymity of being identified as “on model” led me to start looking for something more worthwhile to do.

The first day I moved to L.A. I met Christopher Prince Boucher. I remember that first night I said to him, “you guys are on to something here.” Destiny threw me a curve in 2008, but this time it was right down the middle. He and I instantly connected and over a few months and many fish tacos from Dukes in Malibu, I found myself lobbying for him to take me on in the company. Fortunately for me he did, and as of 2011, I was an associate of Follow The Prince.

Although I was thrilled to get involved in this world of innovative brand development via social media, I had a few doubts in myself. Mainly, I had a degree in English and only took classes in liberal arts. If you want to talk Shakespeare, Faulkner, or Nietzsche, then I’m your man. Excel, business models, and Marketing pitches however, I’m wasn’t so keen on. It was time to go back to school.

Identify what you want to do, and find a niche

Fortunately, Chris was eager to take me on and was willing to help me learn the ropes. I became his protege, started devouring online content, and subsequently learned a lot in a short period of time — three weeks in the Mid-West while at parents house over Christmas. Since then, a month, I am well on my way to earning and deserving my title as associate. My metamorphosis from literary nerd to tech geek gives me confidence that anyone can learn any skill or profession independent of academia and university diplomas. All thats necessary is the desire and will to materialize your aspirations. Put yourself in the position to facilitate learning, read as much as you can about what niche market you want to enter. Believe me, unless you’re a total innovator, someone brilliant is out there blogging about your niche. It would be worth your while to listen to what they have to say. However, don’t just listen to anyone. Use tools such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter to search what blogs are most relevant, command esteem, and have the strongest following from their social communities. One of my favorites is Mashable, and they don’t have 2,173,579 twitter followers from spouting out crap.

Once you’ve selected your niche, try to penetrate that community – once againSocial Media and Blogs are a great avenue to do this. Look for like minded people in your area or even better befriend a guru who can teach and support you on your way rockstar status.When your ready, start off with something small that you can manage on your blossoming knowledge. I started by learn the art of building a marketing deck to propose an idea to a potential client. First thing to learn, was research. Learning everything I could about that potential client was critical in comprehending the vision and purpose behind our pitch. Like anything else, knowledge is power. My best advice in ascertaining said powerful knowledge is via the internet. Google is a verb — use it. If you have trouble, try different buzz words and eventually you’ll get there and probably end up with intellectual equity worth about three hours college credit. Use Google Reader to stay on top of blogs and current affairs within your niche.

Learn to Listen

In all honesty that was my main focus on my first deck. Chris and a talented friend of ours Joe Nash designed and built the deck accordingly what our targeted client was lacking in their current business model. I played the role of a sponge, sopping up as much information and technique I could. I sat there learning through proximity of their talent and loved every moment of it. Nash is nasty in all things adobe. The team used knowledge of the client, to take a subjective look at what it was we needed to deliver. Asking ourselves the question, “what do they need?” and “what problem do they have, and how can we resolve it?” After research, identifying how we could supply a service, we began creating a strong initial pitch deck which Nash created in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. It was slick, but anyone can build one nearly as good in powerpoint or a corresponding program.

What I learned while observing the Jedis at work is while building your deck you want to be as concise as possible, try to keep it under ten slides. One nugget of information I found in my own research was from the blog Read Write Web which says:

Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint remains some of the most important advice: Keep your presentation to 10slides. Keep your presentation to 20 minutes. Don’t use anything smaller than a 30 point font.

Following this rule helps in building curiosity in your brand, and why the client needs you to make their business better. Tell them who you are, what you do, how you can help them by solving their problem, how long your project or service will take, and what you will need to do the job efficiently and properly. As far as I’m concerned, thats what’s important.

Keep it simple

Once you start on your first pitch deck, you might be tempted to build a complex, visually stunning deck, but that might not be in your greater interest. Stay within the scope of your clients problems, and your solutions. However, don’t ignore aesthetics, your deck should look good, but keep it simple. Not to be cliché but less is more. Your client wants a clear picture of what service you are providing and more importantly, what they’re spending their money on. In this economy, no one is buying colorful fonts and superfluous powerpoint pictures — they’re buying results.

Simplicity and clarity are key. Remember we’re talking about an initial pitch deck. So when you’re writing it, let the bullets fly. Use bullet points to give relevant, to-the-point words. Tease them. You want them to ask for more. From there, you elaborate, which manifests opportunity to blow them away and close the deal. If done correctly and with enough bravado, the client will be interested in you and your product, which will no doubt precipitate a second meeting where details can be discussed like monetary compensation — the fun part.

Be transparent

Wrapping this up, your first deck should be basic yet informative. Identify a problem and supply the solution. Listen to what your client is looking for and what they really need. Also, you should be having fun doing this. Keep your tone business but let the style reflect your company or whatever it is you represent. By not catering to anything unauthentic will ensure you’re enjoying yourself. If you care, by default, you will produce quality. This quality should speak for itself, while adding cred to your pitch (or your product) as you fill your client in on the details. Furthermore this is 2011, and we at FTP are all about transparency. The cutthroat days of trying to screw-over the competition have come and gone. Best them with superior product and customer service. Pay it forward and watch your business transform into long-lasting, meaningful, relationships.

Oh, I almost forgot. A tailored suit and hand made shoes from Italy wont hurt either.

Thanks for reading!

Special thanks to Jeff Pulver and the 140Conf for providing the opportunity to share these ideas.