Last night I attended a “pre-launch” party at Sxip, for their new software program, Sxipper.

It’s an identity management app that makes logins and registrations easier and more secure by storing your encrypted contact information and passwords and auto-inputs it into pre-mapped forms and fields. Or something like that.

Rob and I arrived early, and we were in one of the first groups to sit down in an orientation (beers in hand, can’t forget to mention that) that in many ways resembled a focus group, although they insisted it was anything but. We were asked a series of questions about our browser usage, and how often we login or register for things online. The invite list consisted only of what they called “power users,” so the consensus was that we do it an awful lot. After answering a few questions about how much of a pain it is and how much we’d like to see it fixed, we were set free to mingle again; hot dogs, beer et al.

(Roland uploads his photos on the fly at the Sxipper pre-release party)

As neither Rob or I had brought our laptops, we weren’t able to install it on site and try it out. Instead we were treated to a projected demo, that scratched the surface of what Sxipper does.

From what I could see in the demo, it is something that I would use. Anything that makes my life easier and my data more secure is useful to me, as long as it is indeed easier.

We were specifically asked not to share screenshots of the program, so I can’t show you examples of Sxip’s hip (and very Apple/Fido-centric) interface. And it was also clear that the folks at Sxip didn’t want a flood of users crashing the gates right away, but were rather inviting a few local users to try it out, tell their friends to have a look, and let the buzz grow organically.

As for the event, it was a great. Lots of friendly and familiar faces, and it was neat to get a sneak-peek at a local software product that could just become a mainstay for the average user across many platforms. And the free beer and smokies must have worked, because here I am blogging about it.

For now, it’s optimized for use with Firefox and Safari (I think) and is still a sleeping giant. You can sign up to be the among the first to try Sxipper by signing up here. You can see a video by Roland Tanglao here.

tag: sxipper

You knew it was coming, and at last it’s finally here. How could I write a series about quality web content without mentioning the value and effectiveness of blogging?

(image courtesy of flickr user Trois Tetes.)

It’s no secret that I am one of the most outspoken evangelists for blogging, both as a hobby and as a business tool. But rather than have me blab on and on about what I think, I’ll defer to my fellow experts, and have them tell you why you should (or shouldn’t!) add a blog to your business’ marketing portfolio.

First up is “The Blog Squad,” two wise ladies who are huge proponents of blogging as a business tool, with a post entitled “Blogging’s Biggest Business Effect:”

It’s not more paid speeches, not the two book contracts, not more traffic, etc. – although those ARE effects I’ve seen.
It’s the the enormous increase in networking — and of course associated opportunities…Bloggers know a lot of people, and a lot of people know them. In business, that’s a BIG plus.

Well said. I think the reason is obvious, too. Bloggers make themselves more accessible and give value to their site visitors, and relationships develop very naturally as a result.

Next up is Mike Sansone, who’s whole blog “ConverStations” is dedicated to promoting the virtues of blogging for business. A few days back, Mike wrote a post called “Company Blog: Should You or Should You Not?” It includes several links to past posts he’s written on the subject, and to others’ opinions as well. Most notable are the last few sentences:

If a company wants to build valuable relationships, engage with their customers, extend their reach, become more findable and improve their bottom line in the process (and in this order) – they will probably find value in blogging.

Reverse the order above, and its probably best not to blog at this time.

Lastly, since now the fence-sitters are converts, I point to a post by Pronet Advertising that lists “My 50 Favourite Blogging Resources,” that should contain more than enough info to help you get started today.

Ever the Master of brevity in the blogosphere, Seth Godin points out a press release from CBS that highlights their enormous success on YouTube, including a quote from YouTube brass. And then he speaks volumes, by saying almost nothing at all:

“Think about that for a second.”

I applaud CBS for changing their stripes and trying a new way of distributing their content, and I’m especially proud that they are willing to publicize that such a huge audience prefers a different model from the one that has kept them safe and warm in their ivory towers for so long.

Score one for new media.

But perhaps the best news for CBS is the fact that viewership is up, according to their ratings. It proves what many of us have been saying all along; Giving a valuable chunk of information away will only help business, and not hurt it. It builds trust, and exposes your message to a larger potential audience. It puts collateral into the hands of your would-be evangelists.

Now it’s the music industry’s turn to learn this lesson, right Mack?