Thanks to @MelindaFumer of @MSNMoney for including @BostonTweet in the MSN Money article entitled Twitter Your Way to Bargains:

And don’t forget to follow some local tweet aggregators in your city if you want to find deals at restaurants, happy hours at bars, free concerts, cheap haircuts or just new, inexpensive places to shop.

Search for people by your city name and look for users posting deals in your area, such as @BostonTweet and @NewYorkology, to find gems like this: “@Bostontweet: Free burritos today at the Natick @Boloco from 11am-8pm.”

The most recent issue of the Improper Bostonian is all about Boston’s best restaurants, bars, shops and more. I’m (aka @BostonTweet) ecstatic, and grateful, to be featured at the beginning of the list.

Thank you Improper Bostonian (@TheImproper) and thank you Kimba (@KimbaKimba) for the photo.

On Sunday Twitter accidentally suspended thousands of accounts including my @BostonTweet. Of course this came as a great to surprise to me and “scared the bejesus” out of me until I realized that I hadn’t done anything wrong. What also came as a (pleasant) surprise were the numerous “Free BostonTweet” tweets and the article from the Boston Phoenix about my “downtime.”

In response I commented that I took the evening off and went to JP Licks with a friend but due to my “suspension” I was forced to contact that friend via the ancient form of communication known as the telephone. This was yet another revelation on how reliant I’ve become on Twitter as a mode of communication – a form of communication that takes precedence over email, text messaging and the telephone. So with that the below headline is hilarious but sadly true.

SHOCKING: Boston man’s Twitter account suspended, uses TELEPHONE to ask friend out for ice cream

On Monday the Boston Globe published a feature article about the increasing number of Boston restaurants using Twitter to connect with their customers. In addition to talking about local restaurants the Globe also interviewed BostonTweet about my support of everything Boston. Below is an excerpt from that article, which thanks in large part to John Pepper @Boloco includes BostonTweet:

When Boloco wanted to set up focus groups, market research that would have cost thousands of dollars, the company turned to Twitter. Pepper contacted Tom O’Keefe, an online business developer (and avowed fan of Boloco competitor Anna’s Taqueria) whose Twitter stream, @BostonTweet, has more than 6,000 followers. “Within one hour we had 50 people,’’ Pepper said. “It not only saved us all kinds of money, but it turned out to be an amazing group.’’

O’Keefe says he started BostonTweet as a way to create awareness for local restaurants and bars in the down economy. BostonTweet hosts frequent tweetups, events where those using Twitter, a.k.a. tweeps, meet in real life.

“It’s great for business,’’ he said. “It gets people in and they spend money, but it’s also a very vocal group. People talk about the event leading up to it and while they’re there,’’ posting to Twitter via cellphone.

It’s also fun. “I meet so many great people,’’ he said. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.’’

Article Source: The Boston Globe and GlobeDevraFirst

The iPhone OS 3.0 software upgrade will be available on June 17th.

Over the weekend @SJCallan and I launched the BostonTweet Widget. This widget is powered by Twitter & BostonTweet.com and gives anyone with a website the ability to add the Boston news feed to their website.

Not only does the widget pull information from @BostonTweet but it also allows anyone to post Boston news to the app by creating a new tweet with @BostonTweet in it. 

Get the code to spread the Boston Twitter community.

BostonTweet will soon be releasing a widget which can be embeded on your website and be updated by you for broadcast to all the embeded widgets. The BostonTweet widget enables anyone with a Twitter account to report Boston news & events directly to the widget by creating a new tweet with @BostonTweet in it. Currently you can broadcast updates directly to BostonTweet.com in the same manner but with the new widget we bring Boston news & events to a much larger audience!

This afternoon BostonTweet & Sayagle started their three day Sweet Retweet promotion with Sweet Cupcakes. The original tweet from BostonTweet reads as follows:

@BostonTweet & @Sayagle are giving away 2 dozen Sweet Cupcakes (2 $36 gift cards)! RT to enter – drawing on 6/4 http://bit.ly/ibCHl

The power of Twitter continues to amaze me – especially when you have a niche and you target local.  Sweet Cupcakes is a Boston based bakery that sells cupcakes and BostonTweet talks about everything Boston – very straightforward. Well apparently Boston likes cupcakes and Twitter works, because after one tweet there have already been 80 retweets and 609 visitors to SweetCupcakes.com! Not bad for one tweet with at least three or four tweets to go!

Over the last day the blogs and Twitter have been in a flutter over Google’s new product announcement called Google Wave – set to launch later this year. In sum Google Wave is a communication & collaboration platform that pulls in many of the communication tools that we’re already familiar with into one browser based client. Some of these communication tools include new perspectives to email, chat, instant messaging, social networking and project management. From day one Google Wave is an Open Source platform allowing for immediate adoption and innovation.

Some additional features of interest to me are playback conversations, drag and drop file sharing (instantly to all connections) and the Embed Wave – the ability to embed a Wave into your website which then acts as an integrated chat room.

There are thousands of articles about Google Wave but I’ve found the Mashable article to be one of the best.

In a recent Techcrunch interview @Biz talks about potential strategies & features to monetize Twitter. I know as a prolific user of Twitter for both @BostonTweet & @Sayagle I would pay a monthly fee for the following premium features & services:

• Analytics
• Scheduled tweets like Tweetlater current offers
• Demographics on my followers
• Multiple users/username and multiple mobile phone synching
• Additional exposure (especially via location) for my accounts on the Twitter network

Last night we had our weekly Tuesday night Sayagle meeting in Kendall Square, Cambridge. This one was especially productive with Ken, Carol, Alfred, Tony and David all in attendance. In this photo David is joking about something and I thankfully was able to avoid the camera as the cameraman.

The thing that continues to amaze me about Twitter is the ability to collect information on what’s happening right now. In the case of BostonTweet it’s purely Boston but it can be anywhere in the world. No other platform, not even Google, can tell you what’s happening this exact second. The goal of BostonTweet is to give the entire city the ability to post events, sightings, happenings and the scene as it’s happening directly to BostonTweet.com. Whether it’s an event, telling the city about the scene at a bar or tweeting pictures directly to the site – happenings can be broadcast directly to the site by anyone in the city. Citizen journalism, social messaging and often pure entertainment.

What is Boston Doing Right Now?

Boston’s Mayor Tom Menino has been hosting a number of meet and greets throughout Boston and tonight’s is in the North End. For additional information about the event visit BostonTweet

Vernacular, the Emerson College writing, literature & publishing graduate student blog, recently interviewed me about BostonTweet, Sayagle and my invitation to their Gala on May 15th. The interview touches on my previous online experience, Sayagle, Boston, advice for new graduates and my favorite books.

To read the entire interview please visit: Spotlight On…

On April 30th BostonTweet held a tweetup at McGreevy’s on Boylston Street, and as usual my man @JoselinMane was the photographer. To view some of his stills visit Flickr.

@eknopf2 & @BostonTweet looking like dorks with their iPhones

Apparently Bostonians love ice cream because this tweet on BostonTweet received 83 replies at:

Best Ice Cream

I’ll be attending the Vernacular / Emerson College WLP (writing, literature & publishing) Gala on Friday May 15.

http://VernacularLit.com

A popular topic on BostonTweet last week was the list of recent graduates looking for jobs. If you can help please visit “Who’s Graduating this Month?

The Sayagle countdown has begun! Sayagle will be Boston’s flagship internet company and the next big thing on the web!

Follow Sayagle on Twitter @Sayagle

Our Twitter applications are now available to all Twitter users and/or businesses who want to embed their Twitter messages and feedback directly into their website.  With our applications questions can be posed directly to your followers, who then provide you with valuable information visible, searchable and organized directly on your website.  For a visual visit our Tweet on Boston’s Chinatown.

Our Twitter apps come with default settings and optional add-ons.  For the breakdown please see below or contact me at 617-947-8071 or email for additional information and pricing.

Default Setup

1. Grouping Tweets into Conversations
2. Indexing Tweets for Faster Retrieval
3. Permalinking Conversations
4. Admin Panel

Optional Add-ons

1. Search Engine for Indexed Tweets
2. Posting a New Tweet from the App
3. Replying to a Tweet from the App

This evening we launched our latest Twitter application for BostonTweet. BostonTweet provides real time Twitter updates about entertainment, promotions, crowds, menus & discounts at local Boston restaurants, bars, stores & venues. With our new application followers of BostonTweet (both Twitter and non-Twitter) can view, search and read the reviews and replies about Boston food and entertainment.

As I previously wrote in Corporate Messaging & Customer Feedback Applications these applications are available for customization for corporations, restaurants, websites, radio stations and any business who wants instant feedback on their product and services.

BostonTweet has been active for just over a month now with close to 2,000 followers and many great conversations.  To follow BostonTweet visit Twitter, to view some of our  previous conversations visit the links below.

• SoWa
• Mexican Food in Boston
• Burritos in Boston
• Late Night Eats in Boston

This morning BostonTweet (@BostonTweet), in association with HelloVino (@HelloVino), started our first promotion for our Twitter followers.  For our first promotion we’re giving away a free pair of tickets to the Boston Wine Expo on Sunday January 25th.  

@HelloVino and @BostonTweet are giving away a pair of tickets to the Boston Wine Expo. These “Grand Tasting” tickets for Sunday, January 25, 2008 will grant admission into the expo at the Seaport World Trade Center in downtown Boston, MA. Over 450 wineries from around the globe pour over 1,800 wines for you to sample!

Contest Rules:

• One winner will be selected at random. Must be 21+ and show ID at expo entrance.
• Entrants must be following both @BostonTweet and @HelloVino on Twitter.
• Entrants must post a tweet to @BostonTweet and @HelloVino with your favorite food & wine pairing, and include the #expotix hash tag. 

For example:
@BostonTweet @HelloVino I am a huge fan of New England clam chowdah paired with Chardonnay. #expotix

We will announce the winner on Monday, January 19th at 4pm EST.

Over the next week we’ll be launching our new Boston social messaging & customer feedback application called BostonTweet.  This application is powered by Twitter and as you can see from the image below it enables me to ask a question which immediately generates user feedback – all of which is accessible to anyone who visits the website. We’re using the application to generate discussion about local Boston restaurants but it can be applied to any city or any business. The application is designed to generate discussion and feedback about a niche topic.  That topic can be about a corporation, a city,  a product or an interest – whatever the focus it all stimulates interaction & discussion that you control.  By keeping customers discussing your brand you’re keeping them informed of your product and therefore marketing it to them in an unobtrusive way.  Marketing that is spread via word of mouth and recommendations – a far more effective and affordable form of advertising.

Powered by Twitter

Integrated with Twitter these applications enable users to instantly communicate with their followers, customers and clients.  Followers can be informed via the web and cell phone – both of which you can post from. From your cell phone you can broadcast a question to your followers from wherever you are and on whatever captures your attention at that exact moment. Your post is instantly posted to the application which then creates a unique URL for that post and the responses to it.

Feedback is essential for business – integrated with Twitter these applications bring customer feedback instantly to you, all of which is organized and searchable on your website.  Via our user friendly admin panel, posts & replies can be categorized, organized and/or deleted based on a case by case basis.  Asking your customers to speak their voice creates valuable customer feedback – essential for efficiency, product improvement and public relations.

All of the information that you and your followers post is indexed on your website for users to read, reply to and search for both via the website and on Google. Our custom corporate messaging application is beneficial for any business that wants to communicate with their customers – so basically that includes any business who wants to make money.   

To learn more please contact Tom O’Keefe at tom[at]tokibiz[dot]net or 617-947-8071.

For those interested in adding updates about Boston restaurants, bars & events to their website you can get the widget above (image) by adding the code below:

<object classid=”clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000″ codebase=”http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,124,0″ width=”290″ height=”350″ id=”TwitterWidget” align=”middle”> <param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”sameDomain” /> <param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”false” /> <param name=”movie” value=”http://static.twitter.com/flash/widgets/profile/TwitterWidget.swf” /> <param name=”quality” value=”high” /> <param name=”bgcolor” value=”#000000″ /> <param name=”FlashVars” value=”userID=17531205&styleURL=http://static.twitter.com/flash/widgets/profile/smooth.xml”> <embed src=”http://static.twitter.com/flash/widgets/profile/TwitterWidget.swf” quality=”high” bgcolor=”#000000″ width=”290″ height=”350″ name=”TwitterWidget” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”sameDomain” allowFullScreen=”false” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer” FlashVars=”userID=17531205&styleURL=http://static.twitter.com/flash/widgets/profile/smooth.xml”/> </object>

We (Fortunate13, sjcallanDesigns & TOKiBiz) are working on a far more advanced application for BostonTweet (follow @BostonTweet). To start, the design and logo will look significantly different from the current site. A sneak peak of the early version of the logo.

Twitter continues to amaze me – especially when you focus on a niche market or region. Thanks to the great stats from Tweetburner I can now record the effectiveness of every Tweet that I publish via @BostonTweet. BostonTweet announces recommendations, happenings & entertainment at local Boston restaurants, bars and venues. Over the last few days my tweets have sent 445 visitors to the websites of these local restaurants – an impressive number in itself but especially considering that most of these websites probably don’t receive more than 10 visitors/day. Twitter is here to stay and will eventually be the most persuasive form of marketing & communication online.

Follow BostonTweet at http://Twitter.com/BostonTweet

Over the last couple of months, to the neglect of this blog, I’ve become quite addicted to Twitter. Like I originally did with blogs, I cursed Twitter because I didn’t see the point of it. Well I must admit that I regret not getting on Twitter sooner.

As I eventually learned a blog is an essential business tool and one that generates all my business, well that was until Twitter. Twitter is a social messaging/notification service that allows you to text updates on what you’re doing right now. You know that one little status section of Facebook that asks you what you’re doing right now? That’s Twitter and it’s phenomenal. Twitter only allows you to send 140 characters at a time but it’s amazing how much information you can learn from brevity. 

In my opinion Twitter has become the best tool for networking with people, connecting with information, marketing and most importantly getting people to talk about whatever topic you’re talking about. These days I have two Twitter accounts. My business is @TOKiBiz and the one I’m most amazed by is @BostonTweet.

@BostonTweet, in conjunction with BostonTweet.com, broadcasts real time Twitter updates about what’s happening right now at Boston restaurants, bars and music venues. @BostonTweet is very focused on local Boston business, which  makes people passionate about voicing their Boston restaurant recommendations. What Twitter does, that blogs and Facebook don’t do (or at least as well), is to get people to think about topics and contribute to the discussion in real time. What amazes me about BostonTweet is people are very passionate about their favorite local people, places and things – I know I am! So when you pose a question about what’s your favorite Thai Food restaurant we all immediately chime in with our vote. This puts the restaurant fresh on our mind and for me makes me want to visit that establishment ASAP. I know I’ve already visited a few new spots based on these recommendations and I’m sure (out of 550 followers) I’m not the only one  - businesses need to get in on the Tweet! I’m definitely going to J. Pace & Son in the North End very soon!!

In my opinion Twitter has become more valuable for business than blogs and Facebook. Blogs are terrific for when you want to be verbose on a topic that you’re passionate about but blogs can no longer beat the immediate influence that Twitter has. Maybe it’s that we can no longer process anything more than 140 characters or 30 seconds of video but those are the influencers and if business wants to survive then they need to embrace that. My buddy at EaT in Portland, Oregon just yesterday asked me if he should spend money on having a website for his new restaurant. I said no way! Create a blog, register with Twitter, and then send updates from your cell phone (while at the restaurant) about what’s happening RIGHT NOW at EaT. With a simple line of code you can notify your followers and update your blog & website with fresh content that will immediately be indexed on the search engines. Your typical portfolio, online brochure website is no longer effective in generating business for offline companies. Sure it’s nice to have an online menu but in most cases it’s not going to generate new business and it’s definitely not going to get people talking. Twitter can!

If you’re an offline business (restaurant, bar, cafe, shop) then you know that word of mouth is your most valuable form of marketing – recommendations from loyal customers. This is what Twitter does for your business and you need to get on board to get people talking and thinking about your business. Blogs and websites are you talking to your customers, which is of course important, but Twitter gets your customers talking. 

As for Facebook I use to think that it was good for marketing but I no longer believe that to be true. Facebook is phenomenal for connecting with former classmates and I owe Mark Zuckerberg a lot of thanks for connecting me with my former St. Martin de Porres (Poughkeepsie, NY) classmates – I don’t know how Classmates.com is still in business. However, as a marketing & networking tool Facebook isn’t as effective as Twitter. In my opinion Facebook’s revenues (or lack of) prove that. Of course Twitter is also trying to figure out their revenue model, maybe someday it will be a necessary utility like the telephone, but in the simplest terms Twitter is an advertising model in itself. Not in the form of banners but in the form of valuable information that’s not clogged with a bunch of spam and excessive text. If you don’t like what someone’s dishing then you just un-follow that person – problem solved. Wouldn’t it be nice if email was like this?

Bizak is currently up for auction on SitePoint. Any interested parties can bid directly on the site or contact me (617-947-8071 or email) for additional information.

Auction URL:  http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/auctions/53150

Congratulations to my friends at Webnotes for launching their invite-only beta yesterday. If you don’t already know, Webnotes was founded by a handful of MIT grads and it lets you annotate, share and organize notes on any web page.

•  Annotate the Web- “With Webnotes you can highlight text and stick notes to web pages”
• Organize Notes – “All highlights and notes are stored in folders with your Webnotes account”
• Share Comments – “Pages you annotate can be shared through email or online links”

On their first day Webnotes was featured on a number of blogs including, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, and VentureBeat.

To register for their beta please visit www.WebNotes.net. I also have a handful of invitations available to my readers so if you’re interested just comment (with your email) to this post.

Over the weekend we launched BostonTweet which provides real time Twitter updates about entertainment, promotions, crowds, menus & discounts at local Boston restaurants, bars, stores & venues. BostonTweet is a way for local business to stay connected with their customers via social media and messaging.

BostonTweet is categorized according to local cities (Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge & Somerville), hoods (Allston, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Brookline Village, Central Square, Cleveland Circle, Coolidge Corner, Davis Square, Downtown Boston, Faneuil Hall, Fenway, Harvard Square, Inman Square, Jamaica Plain, Kenmore, North End, Porter Square, South End, Southie, Union Square & Washington Square) & @Replies.

Updates are broadcast to Twitter followers, Twitter search, Google, mobile phones, syndication feeds, blogs, and of course BostonTweet.com. For local Boston businesses they can use BostonTweet to affordable and instantly connect with current and future customers.

On Thursday, January 22, 2009, Xconomy will be hosting their annual Battle of the Tech Bands to be held at the Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge. 

The night will showcase musicians (and bands) who are also members of  Boston’s tech industry. The eligibility requirements are:

At least one member of your band must work for a New England-area technology or life sciences company or a venture-capital or private-equity firm that invests in technology. All levels of bands are welcome—from club veterans to garage hackers. All musical styles are welcome. Bands that entered Xconomy’s first Battle of the Bands in January 2008 are eligible for Battle of the Bands 2.

The deadline to register your band is Friday, December 12, 2008 and you can learn more at: http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/11/05/battle-of-the-tech-bands-2/

Today at infoMedMD, a medical symptoms checker, we released our lasted infoMed entitled Depression Screening. 

Do you think you are depressed? Only a doctor can diagnosis this for sure and sometimes, they even disagree. This private INFOMED will ask you a series of questions to see if you may depressed. It will also ask you questions to determine whether your depression has a medical or situational basis – or both.

The Depression Screening infoMed (and all infoMeds) can be embedded onto your website with the following code.

<object width=’425′ height=’344′><embed src=’https://www.infomedmd.com/flash/infomed_app_425_344.swf?infoMedId=97&ac=FF3T9UPE6BVDZQZ’ type=’application/x-shockwave-flash’ width=’425′ height=’344′></embed></object>

Click

Over the weekend Paul Yeaton of Fortunate13 and I were busy developing BostonTweet. The technology has been finalized, but we’re still working on the design. We hope to have the app launched within a few days.  

For now follow BostonTweet on Twitter!

BostonTweet: real time Twitter updates about entertainment, promotions, crowds, events, menus & discounts at local Boston restaurants, bars stores & venues.

Tweet the Scoop: Have the scope on a local Boston hotspot? Email, text (617-947-8071) or @Reply us happenings in Boston.

Boston Business: Connect with your customers and promote your business. Email, text or call 617-947-8071.

BostonTweet will cover Boston Events in Boston, Cambridge & Brookline. Each region will be categorized according to the following neighborhoods:

Boston: South End, North End, Back Bay, Kenmore, Downtown Boston, Beacon Hill, Allston, Brighton, Jamaica Plain, 

Cambridge: Harvard Square, Porter Square, Davis Square, Central Square

Brookline: Washington Square, Coolidge Corner, Brookline Village

Stay current on all the latest postings on BostonTweet by adding the follow code to your website. 

<div id=”twitter_div”> <h2 class=”sidebar-title”>BostonTweet</h2> <ul id=”twitter_update_list”></ul> </div> <script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js”></script> <script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/BostonTweet.json?callback=twitterCallback2&amp;count=5″></script>

I’m happy to announce that infoMedMD will be one of the side dishes at the next Webinno. Webinno 20 will be held at the Royal Sonesta Cambridge hotel on Tuesday December 9th at 6:30pm.

A side dish means that infoMedMD will occupy one of the periphery tables in the conference room for demonstrating infoMedMD. The entire list of presenters at Webinno 20 are:

Main Dishes

TripChill - Alex Shore, Dave Miller, & Chris Holt 
Local Motors - John B. Rogers, Jr. 
Crimson Hexagon - Candace Fleming & Perry Hewitt

Side Dishes

Pixabilty - Bettina Hein, Dale Bertrand, & Randy Barth 
Tipjoy - Abby Kirigin & Ivan Kirigin 
HelpGuest - Mark Abrams & Jim Dowd 
InfoMedMD - Thomas O’Keefe 
Genotrope - Thomas Summit 
Photrade - Andrew Paradies & Dan Preston

I will be joined by Paul Yeaton of Fortunate13 (designer of infoMedMD) so if you there please stop by and say hi. – Tom O’Keefe

To register for the event please visit the URL below:

http://webinno20.eventbrite.com/

Click

Over the next week TOKiBiz, in partnership with Fortunate13, will be launching BostonTweet. BostonTweet is an online platform for info about about specials, menus, entertainment, promotions & discounts at local Cambridge, Boston and Brookline restaurants, bars, stores & venues.

BostonTweet utilizes Twitter to broadcast to Twitter followers, Twitter search, mobile phones, Google, syndication feeds, blogs, and of course BostonTweet.com.  

If you have the scoop on a local event either email BostonTweet at tweet@BostonTweet.com or leave an @Reply or DM to @BostonTweet on Twitter. We’ll then broadcast it to our followers, syndication, blogs and BostonTweet.com.

If you’re a local Boston business and want to utilize social media & messaging to promote your business then contact BostonTweet at Tweet@BostonTweet.com or 617-947-8071.

BostonTweet will be categorized according to Boston, Brookline & Cambridge neighborhoods. To commence these neighborhoods include:

• Brookline: Washington Square, Coolidge Corner, Brookline Village
• Cambridge: Harvard Square, Davis Square, Central Square, Porter Square
• Boston: Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End, North End, Southie, Kenmore, Downtown, Brighton, Allston

If you’re neighborhood isn’t included that doesn’t mean you can’t tweet us with updates – they’ll still be posted under our citywide listings.

Techcrunch and the Values of n blog has announced that Twitter has purchased the Portland, OR based company. Values of n is the developer of Stikkit and I Want Sandy. In his blog post entitled “A fork in the road“ Rael Dornfest says:

While the company and services will be shutting down, Stikkit and Sandy’s DNA will live on; the intellectual property behind both has been acquired by Twitter, Inc. While Twitter has no immediate plans to incorporate Sandy or Stikkit’s feature sets into its core product, those who know our apps well may notice familiar-feeling bits and bobs appearing in your Twitter experience.

The third tine of this fork is me: I have taken an engineering position in the User Experience group at Twitter. I started consulting there a few months ago, and fell in love with the team, their way of thinking about things, and of course the product (my Twitter user id is in the low 100s). It turns out we worked incredibly well together, the feeling was mutual, and they pulled me in as a permanent member of the team.

@TOKiBiz will be releasing a local Boston Twitter application over the next week serving local restaurants, bars and entertainment. If you’re a local Boston business owner please contact us for social media & messaging marketing opportunities.

In a previous article, Web 2.No More, I wrote about how the current economic conditions are moving us into a new web life cycle. Away from Web 2.0 and into Web 3.0 where the leading web applications will focus more on solving critical problems rather than creating love connections.  In that post I wrote:

Health 2.0 applications like Sermo, infoMedMD & PatientsLikeMe are in their infancy but they’re quickly providing patients all over the world with medical research, information and patient outreach – services that previously were only available via costly doctor visits. Online medical applications were definitely slow to adapt Web 2.0 technologies, but I think they’re some of the first players in Web 3.0. Interactive medical data applications used not for online enjoyment (or making friends) but rather to educate people in an attempt to make their lives better and healthier. 

Health 2.0 is the commencement of this new web cycle and over time we might discover that there was years of overlap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. Technology and ideas evolve. Some still adapt the old ways while others are pushing ahead. The current economic conditions calls for the immediate change in definition, valuation, focus and efficiency. Some will make the jump from 2.0 to 3.0, others won’t make it out and many more are just being born.

At TOKiBiz we develop the foundation for online applications to mature into successful internet startups. We start with an idea, create the model, build the brand, and then launch the application. Once the initial development is complete, and the application has developed its foundation, we then look for a buyer who can take that startup to the next level.

Bizak has been online now for 6 months, has developed that foundation, has received a tremendous amount of interest and is now ready for a buyer who can expand its reach. Both Bizak and infoMedMD were built with the ability to quickly & affordable scale operations with total costs being under $500/year.

We are now opening up discussions with interested parties and if you too are interested in acquiring Bizak please contact Tom O’Keefe at 617-947-8071 or tom[at]tokibiz[dot]net.

I just received the official iPhone 2.2 software update from Apple which includes Google Street View, public transit & walking directions, podcasts & Safari improvements.

Installing the iPhone 2.2 software update is easy by following the steps below

We at infoMedMD just released our latest infoMed and this time the topic is Dieting & Weight Loss – a popular topic, especially this time of year. The Dieting & Weight Loss infoMed will ask you for your height and weight, preceded by a few questions, after which it will give you a realistic weight loss plan. The Diet & Weight Loss infoMed is written by Dr. Joe Bentivegna who previously wrote a weight loss article entitled “Weight Loss Requires Discipline, Not Gimmicks.” 

The Dieting & Weigh Loss infoMed can be embedded onto your website with the following code:

<object width=’425′ height=’344′><embed src=’https://www.infomedmd.com/flash/infomed_app_425_344.swf?infoMedId=21&ac=FF3T9UPE6BVDZQZ’ type=’application/x-shockwave-flash’ width=’425′ height=’344′></embed></object>

The recent market fiasco has everyone wondering whether Web 2.0 is alive or dead? The technology is indeed still alive (and advancing) but the focus is changing towards Web 3.0.

When the internet bubble burst in the early 2000s it acted as the dividing line between Web 1.0 (the original web) and Web 2.0. Web 2.0 didn’t commence the day after the bubble burst but rather it evolved over time with the rise of search, social networking, blogs, online videos and user generated content. Whereas Web 1.0 was about putting offline information (books, news, brochures) online, Web 2.0 is about sharing that information via social networks, blogs, online video, social messaging, etc. Web 3.0 will evolve with the integration of all this information into deeper analytical studies of online (and human) interaction, consumption behaviors & consumer data. A move more towards the semantic web.

Not only do I think that Web 3.0 will be about the quantifying of Web 2.0’s user generated data but I believe the focus (of web applications) will change.

In business, they’ll take a more active role in utilizing social networks and messaging platforms to communication with clients. This online interaction is efficient, effective and measurable, which provides corporations with analytical interaction to quantify and measure customer feedback like never before. The web has been evolving in this direction but the recent economic mess will force firms to embrace this technology now. The need to cut costs and be more accountable will propel the web towards Web 3.0 much faster than anticipated. 

The second main change from Web 2.0 to 3.0 will be about focus. This past month has seen two monumental events. The financial collapse of the world economy and a historical election that broke centuries of racial inequality in the United States. Obama’s message was all about change and not only will there be change at home but also a movement towards changing the world’s perception of us. This means instead of meaningless applications that rate whether you’re hot or not there will be a movement towards uniting the online industrial western world with developing nations. Online video has already opened up our eyes to injustice around the world but it’s only the start. The tools of Web 2.0 will evolve to help all nations be self sufficient, energy independent (via new energy technology) and environmentally friendly.

Web 2.0 gave us the technology to test the effectiveness, success and power of online interaction. Global information, worldwide interaction & third world participation opens up a world of possibilities to both developing and industrialized nations. I already see the global need for western medical information with infoMedMD. Many of our visitors come from developing nations that likely don’t have access to quality medical care. With infoMeds, developing nations (with online access) can receive Western medical advice almost as if they specifically asked a doctor for a diagnosis.

Health 2.0 applications like Sermo, infoMedMD & PatientsLikeMe are in their infancy but they’re quickly providing patients all over the world with medical research, information and patient outreach – services that previously were only available via costly doctor visits. Online medical applications were definitely slow to adapt Web 2.0 technologies, but I think they’re some of the first players in Web 3.0. Interactive medical data applications used not for online enjoyment (or making friends) but rather to educate people in an attempt to make their lives better and healthier. 

Whatever the third phase of the web is called it’s very likely that it has just begun. The current economic conditions have forced technology companies (and the venture capitalists funding them) to rethink their business models, focus their ideas and think of the next big thing. The third phase of the web will take everything that we’ve learned during Web 1.0 & 2.0 and make it better.

Internet marketing is more measurable, accountable, faster and viral than traditional advertising. While both forms of advertising might see dips during this economic slowdown it’s likely that traditional (print, TV, radio) advertising will see the biggest decline due to the uncertainty of their results. Internet advertising can be measured immediately via web analytics giving you instant feedback on the success or failure of your advertising dollars. 

Most corporations have not embraced online marketing & social media tools to effectively market their brand. With advertising and public relations (PR) budgets being cut, executives need to utilize the cost effective tools of social media, blogs and online marketing. To cut costs executives have to take an active role in the communication between them and their clients. All of this can be done affordable, but it takes active participation.

My advice – Don’t waste your money on expensive search engine optimization campaigns. SEO firms charge exorbitant fees (however likely to decline in the current market) and they can’t guarantee any results. No SEO firm can promise you the number one spot because they’re not Google and if they were it’s all based o Google’s algorithum. You can accomplish the same results that an SEO firm would do by utilizing online media to your advantage. Also unless you’re in the top 5 of the first page (for a popular keyword) you’re not going to see any significant amount of traffic. 

Now is the time to embrace the web more than ever and now is the time for corporations to take a direct and active role in their online marketing.

Today Google & YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Sponsored Videos. Sponsored videos work almost exactly like Adwords (except its videos instead of text ads) and they’re along the right hand column of YouTube instead of at Google.com. This is definitely welcome news for non-viral video makers (aka Me!) who could use some additional exposure. The costs are on a CPC basis and like Adwords you can set a maximum daily budget.

While I think it’s good for video makers it might not be as popular with viewers who are use to a relatively ad free YouTube. Also sex videos are already clogging up the advertising space. Perform a search for a popular keyword and you’ll see sponsored results for sex and porn videos. This was bound to happen since they are video ads and not text ads, however YouTube definitely needs to monitor this before a backlash ensues. 

All in all it’s a good start for YouTube and I would imagine it’s an idea that Google has been contemplating releasing for many months. Why?  Because it’s not a new idea and the economy probably forced Google to release sponsored videos sooner than later to make up for a likely decline in online advertising spending.

One additional feature that I would like to see with the YouTube sponsored videos is the ability to also display my video along the Google Adwords column. I think it’s time for Adwords to start integrating videos within their text ads. Text ads were a huge revolution from the ghastly banner ads of the 1990s but now everything is about video and I think it’s time for Adwords to adapt.

HomeAway, a vacation rental marketplace, just raised $250 million in their latest round of financing. HomeAway previously raised $209 million which was used to acquire eleven vacation rental sites including VRBO, VacationRentals, CyberRentals, A1Vacations, GreatRentals, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, OwnersDirect.co.uk, FeWo-direkt.de and Abritel.fr.

With $150 million in yearly revenues the funding will likely be used for additional acquisitions in the vacation rental front – a $24 billion industry. This bodes well for Boston based FlipKey which offers verified vacation rental reviews.

With this round HomeAway was valued at $1.15 Billion – using the basic Bizak revenue valuation you get approximately $600 Million. According to Michael Arrington of Techcrunch this was an “absurd valuation” that won’t likely produce positive returns for the investors.  He says:

It’s also clear that the round was seriously overvalued. Ebay was rumored to have mulled over an acquisition earlier this year at $1.5 billion, but it never came through with a firm offer. It’s not clear who else could be a buyer at this valuation. Also, since HomeAway has acquired just about everyone in the market, there’s little room for additional growth via acquisitions. 20x ebitda is a public company valuation for a company with real growth potential. Our guess is these new investors may take a bath. Source:  Techcrunch

Only time will tell if the deal is bound for failure but either way there will be some very happy entrepreneurs who are more than willing to take a piece of that $250 million.

As I wrote previously in “Creating Ideas Into Business” I talked about how TOKiBiz helps entrepreneurs execute their idea into an online application. I receive a lot of idea development requests via this site. Most of them aren’t significantly unique but how the entrepreneur plans to execute the idea is where the creativity comes into play. It’s the combination of this unique perspective coupled with the entrepreneur’s experience that makes the idea a good one! Ideas create new ideas.

Everyone has ideas but how to create those ideas into an internet application is the difficult part. Creating that idea into a solid brand and profitable business is the very difficult part.  

I respect people’s desire to be very protective of their thoughts but the truth is no one can execute it like you can. They way someone else views your idea is totally different than how you see it – plus the idea alone is not new or very complicated. As I wrote in “The Value of a Business Idea“:

For most ideas the initial value doesn’t necessarily come from the idea itself but the team behind that idea.  Many of us have similar ideas but the real value comes in how that idea is executed.  The more experience the team has the more likely they’ll have a successful execution – even if the idea isn’t earth shattering.  For many ideas aren’t earth shattering, however the most successful ones provide a simple solution to a common problem.

As Techcrunch reported there is a “Fourth YouTuber” who is looking to sue the company for stealing his idea. The reasons are given in the article but none of them are all that unique or even ones that didn’t exist before YouTube went live. The idea of posting videos on the web wasn’t a new one when YouTube went live in 2005. Revver, Brightcove, iFilm and others were around before 2005 but YouTube clicked with the masses. This doesn’t however mean YouTube is monetizing better than other sites – especially Hulu who is eating their lunch.

The “Fourth YouTuber” claims that he came up with the ideas for “video uploading, video commenting, agnostic video format, layout of the main video screen, awards and top listings “most watched”, star ratings, viewers, DMCA automation, video and audio fingerprinting.” Maybe he did but none of these ideas (or features) are all that unique. It’s stuff that developers casually talk about every day – if developers weren’t able to create ideas that originated from conversations then nothing would be built. We build upon what we read and hear about – again it’s the way individuals execute these ideas that make them unique. Take a dozen internet startups in twelve different industries and it’s likely that half of them integrate similar “Web 2.0″ features.

DJ Burdick, founder of One Season, says “business is 5% idea, 95% execution” in “Ideas are Cheap.” One excellent point that DJ makes is “a lot of entrepreneurs are afraid to share their ideas”: 

“We’re in stealth mode” you’ll hear people say. I think that this approach in general is more harmful than good. Let’s throw all morals out the window for a second and assume that people are bad and won’t have any aversion to stealing your idea. Talented and smart people have better things going on than waiting around to steal your idea. Untalented and unoriginal people who may try to steal your idea won’t be able to execute it.

The less experienced someone is at turning a concept into a business, the more they seem to feel like the idea is everything.

If you stay in “stealth mode” as an entrepreneur you’re really only hurting yourself.

NDAs are thrown around so often. It seems like every conversation is prefaced with a mutual NDA. VCs won’t sign them for good reason. And I think in general they are really pointless. Source:  Ideas are Cheap

We’re all influenced by the same technology, which in return stimulates ideas that are similar to others. Someone with a financial background is going to execute the idea differently than someone with a retail background. It’s the experience that one has within the industry that he/she is executing in that increases the likelihood of success for that idea. As I wrote in “Getting An Idea Off the Ground“: 

I use to think that at some point ideas would eventually run dry.  Now I know this is definitely not the case for there are millions of ways to make our lives better.  Ways that we never thought of before and ways that couldn’t exist without the idea launched previous to ours.  For ideas keep building on the ideas of those who came before us.

The Boston based (more specifically Brighton) used gadget marketplace Gazelle has closed a $6 million series B round of funding led by RockPort Capital Partners.  Gazelle is led by Rousseau Aurelien and not only does the company help save the environment but the recent economic woes have given Gazelle an even greater impetus – get cash for your gadgets during tough times!  The Boston Globe recently wrote an article about Gazelle and Lawrence, MA based Nextworth which says:  

Perhaps it’s time to bring in a little extra cash, by disposing of your unused devices. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average American household has two dozen such gadgets – such as TVs, DVD players, cameras, game consoles, and computers. 

According to the Globe article a lot of people have trouble using sites like Craig’s List and eBay:

But how do you sell them? There are always Internet trading sites like eBay and Craigslist, but these can be costly and risky options for amateur traders. EBay requires a complicated sign-up process and charges transaction fees that will eat into your profits. Craigslist is free and simple, but provides no protection against scam artists who may try to pay with forged money orders or rubber checks. And you can’t be certain your stuff will sell, and at what price.

Gazelle simplifies the process for people by paying you cash up front and then they resell the gadgets online. For an online demo please view the video below:

According to Canalys, Apple’s iPhone has surpassed Research in Motion and Motorola to take the number two spot for worldwide smart phone shipments. The iPhone now enjoys a 17.3% smart phone market share with 6,899,010 units shipped in Q3 2008. This is still considerable behind the 38.9% (15,485,690 units) that Nokia enjoys, but in year over year comparisons Apple grew from 3.6% while Nokia declined from 51.4%. 

According to the NPD group those 6.9 million Apple shipments made the iPhone the best selling cell phone (not just smart phone) in the United States.  The iPhone has now surpassed the Motorola RAZR V3, RIM Blackberry Curve, the LG Rumor and the LG enV2 in units sold domestically.

Below is a chart of the current (October 2008) average benchmarks for websites who contribute to Bizak. Numbers are averages for Visitors, Revenues, Revenues per Visitor (RPV), Costs, Earnings, Earnings per Visitor (RPV) and Valuation. Bizak is categorized into industry, website type and revenue source. The chart below lists the averages for website type and revenue source.   

If you’ve visited YouTube in the last two days you’ll see that Barack Obama is very popular.  Out of the top twenty most popular videos on YouTube,  Barack’s acceptance speech takes up seven of those slots – or 35% of the total.  In addition to the actual speech there are three additional videos about Barack Obama which means half of the 20 most popular videos on YouTube are about President Obama.  

According to Visible Measures (of Boston) there are currently over 500 versions of Obama’s speech on YouTube with views totaling 6.8 million times and counting.  

However, the actual online viewership of Obama’s speech is much greater than 6.8 million since these numbers don’t include views from news sites like CNN, ABC News and MSNBC – all of which have seen a massive spike in traffic since election day.  CNN.com alone had 27 million unique visitors on election night with 276 million page views.

Whether you like Obama or not you have to agree that he has sparked a massive interest in American politics that hasn’t been seen in decades, arguable not since JFK! At the very least this renewed interest in America is a very good thing.