Sweet Tweet Message Decay

Thanks to Pat Sullivan for sending this over and to Sysomos for developing the research and chart and to EdelmanDigital for getting it out there.

Which country produces the most stuff?

The United States does. Not that even Americans think so (see poll below).

2010 Gross Domestic Product (International Monetary Fund Estimates)
$14.62 Trillion = US
$5.75 Trillion = China
$5.4 Trillion = Japan

GDP per capita
$47,000 = US
$42,000 = Japan
$4,000 = China

Who Americans think is the leading economic power? (Gallup Poll)

52% China
32% US

NOTE: China did surpass Japan to become the second largest economy (producer of goods and services (GDP)). Japan had been the second largest since 1969.

Fiber Frenzy this Saturday

Textile Center....

Simple Design is Complex

Thanks to UIEtips and the Interesting Moments Grid discussion we have a tool to demonstrate to clients how complex interaction design is so that it looks easy for the user.

Download two sample templates to help your next project (or client discussion) from the Looks Good Works Well blog.

Why they opt-out, unlike, stop following you

Keeping your content relevant which means keeping it meaningful, timely and different from others makes a difference. Look at the top three reasons noted in a recent study called, "The Social Break-Up" by ExactTarget.

Email (unsubscribe)
1. Too frequent
2. Content repetitive and/or boring
3. Needed to drop some

Facebook (unlike)
1. Too frequent
2. Needed to drop some
3. Content repetitive and/or boring

Twitter (stop following)
1. Content repetitive and/or boring
2. Needed to drop some
3. Too frequent

Who? What? Where? Do you know your customer?

Here is a breakdown of customer information that you should know as a marketer. Basic stuff, but often information that has been set aside, is incomplete or often not available where it is needed for many organizations.


Psychographics answer the "Who" questions and relate to interests, activities and opinions.

Demographics answer the "What" questions and relate to age, gender and education.

Geographics answer the "Where" questions and relate to zip code, travel miles and neighborhood.

If you have this information, great. If you don't, take the time to develop it!

Lessons learned from turning down a big deal

LivingSocial claims to be on a growth path that will overtake the size of Groupon before 2011 is over. With a cash infusion from Amazon and an internet-wide record breaking sales event in their recent past, it might actually happen. So, will Groupon's leadership look back at the deal Google offered and wonder what might have been?

Read the story here: LivingSocial: We're set to overtake Groupon  - From CNET News. The start-up, now valued at $1 billion, says it will soon overtake Groupon in the U.S. market for online daily deals. CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy tells how it got there.