While I spend a lot of time on entrepreneurial projects (two iPhone apps and a novel I’m trying to get picked up), I am best known as the Co-Editor of Mashable. I started writing for Mashable in 2009 before becoming Associate Editor in March 2010. Now I am the Co-Editor of a nearly 30-person company, and rapidly growing (by the way, yes, Mashable is my full-time job).

One of the most frequent questions people ask me is what do you do on a typical day? or what area do you focus on or how much of your time is spent writing?. Until now, I’ve never really answered those questions, but I thought today would be as good as any to talk about my life as a Mashable editor.

So what do I do on a typical day as the Co-Editor of Mashable? While my role has evolved considerably as we’ve grown, the short answer is this: I am the counterpart to our illustrious Editor in Chief Adam Ostrow, responsible for helping manage the newsroom, synthesizing editorial direction, finding the news, writing stories, and filling in the gaps whenever they’re needed.

Now for the long answer: I’d say that most of my activities fall under one of three categories:

- Writing: I don’t have a specific focus or “beat” at Mashable. I pretty much write about all of the subjects Mashable covers through the relationships and expertise I’ve built. You could find me writing about breaking news from Facebook or diving into a thoughtful opinion piece on the structure of the web.

- Editorial: I help Adam manage the news room, assign stories, and edit articles (though I want to take this time to say that Brenna and Lauren are amazing editors that make us all look good). I also work and manage a range of editorial projects to support the entire team’s efforts.

- Biz Dev/Strategy: Mashable has a lot of moving parts. While I leave the biz stuff to COO Adam Hirsch and the overall vision to Pete, I’m constantly helping out with events, internal projects, and figuring out our next steps.

There are many other aspects of my job (business relationships, speaking engagements, media appearances, story research, fixing bugs…), but my ultimate goal as Co-Editor is to support the team in any way I can so they can do their job of writing and publishing killer stories. That, I believe, is what being a good editor is all about.

img credit: Ken Yeung

The definition of Anecdotal Evidence, via Wikipedia:

(2) Evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence. For example “my grandfather smoked like a chimney and died healthy in a car crash at the age of 99″ does not disprove the proposition that “smoking markedly increases the probability of cancer and heart disease at a relatively early age”. In this case, the evidence may itself be true, but does not warrant the conclusion.

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It shouldn’t surprise you that the vast majority of the world’s most successful businesses and entrepreneurs didn’t do it alone. Apple’s Steve Jobs had co-founder Steve Wozniak, Microsoft’s Bill Gates had co-founder Paul Allen, and Google was built by two men, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And any successful startup needs a driven, flexible, intelligent, and passionate team.

What some entrepreneurs overlook though is the importance of mentorship. It’s not just about having a board of advisers, but building honest and long-lasting relationships, long before you start your own company. It’s about realizing that a good adviser is delighted to help when you give him or her a call. It’s also about realizing that, for the most part, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.
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Watch the first two minutes of this speech I gave at Northwestern (I’ve tagged the part of the video where I talk about it), and you’ll see how I picked the title of this article:

Jason Fried of 37Signals has once again brought down the reality check hammer, about something I keep harping about: profit.

Here’s some business 101:

Revenue – Cost = Profit.

It’s not Venture Capital + Growth = Profit, or Pageviews + Buzz = Profit. Yet in web entrepreneurship, this simple equation doesn’t always click. So Jason Fried wrote about it after an NYT article that’s more than ironic. My favorite paragraph from his article:

“If there was an airline that flew more passengers than anyone else, but lost money on each one, would we call it a success? If there was a restaurant that served more people than anyone else, but lost money on each meal served, would we call it a success? If there was a store that sold more product than anyone else, but took a loss on each one, would we call it a success? Would the business press hold these companies up as business model successes? Would anyone? Interesting, maybe. Promising, sure. But successful? Then what the hell is going on with the coverage of our industry?”

No business is a success until it has a profit. Twitter is a success as a platform, but certainly not as a business. If it can’t prove its viability, it will die just like any other high-profile business.

Tech enetrepreneurs: do yourself a favor and read the entire article, and then watch David Heinemeier Hansson’s Startup School 08 talk, which really shows you why you should care about revenue:

This summer, Mashable (where I am editor) has been part of a major charity drive: The Summer of Social Good. It’s been a huge initiative on our part to use the power of social media and social networks to do some good for the world. The money raised will go to four charities:

- Livestrong
- Oxfam America
- The Humane Society
- World Wildlife Foundation

So far, the Summer of Social Good has raised over $30,000, In two days, the closing event and conference will take place and the Summer of Social Good will end.

That’s why I am going to make the case for donating by this Friday, August 28th. I could list a million reasons why you should donate – and you can come up with a million more – but these seven reasons really call out to me, and I hope they call out to you. Please donate to the summer of social good.

1. Because We Have an Obligation to the World

We’ve taken so much from this world, it only seems natural that we’re obligated to give back to help it. There are millions of people that aren’t even fortunate enough to have a hot dinner, not to mention a computer and an Internet connection. If we don’t take care of each other and the planet we live on, we’re in for serious trouble.

2. Because It’s So Easy to Do

The web’s made it easier than ever to give back. PayPal, electronic banking, and social apps (i.e. Causes). Or, in the case of the Summer of Social Good, widgets:

Yes, all you have to do is click “donate now.” I will give you a strong thumbs-up (or a mini-party) if you do.

3. Because You’d Be Donating to Four Great Charities That Create Major Social Change

If you have never heard of LiveStrong, the Humane Society, Oxfam America, or the World Wildlife Foundation, here’s your quick charitable education. Each cause is beyond worthy of your support:

1. Livestrong: More than 12 million worldwide are diagnosed w/ cancer and 8mil will die from the disease each year. We will end the stigma of cancer and turn cancer victims into cancer survivors, build an international grassroots movement, take cancer from isolation to collaboration and ,together with world leaders, will transform cancer from obscurity to a global priority.

2. Humane Society: Established in 1954, The HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals—a world that will also benefit people. We are America’s mainstream force against cruelty, exploitation and neglect, as well as the most trusted voice extolling the human-animal bond. Our mission statement: Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.

3. Oxfam America: One in six people worldwide now suffers from chronic hunger. More than 2.5 billion people live in poverty, struggling to survive on less than $2 a day—and the numbers are growing. But we at Oxfam believe that it doesn’t have to be this way. If we work together, we can turn the numbers in the other direction. Along with individuals and local groups in over 100 countries, we save lives, help people overcome poverty, and fight for social justice.

4. WWF: Our environment and earth’s future is in great danger. It is estimated that, over 75% of the world’s marine stocks are currently over fished, we lose 36 football fields of rainforest on the earth every minute and we will possibly lose up to 10,000 species this year. NOW is the time for action. WWF needs your help to strengthen global awareness of these issues and ensure that the best possible solutions are implemented for a sustainable future.

You’re saving the world by helping these charities. Period.

4. Because You’re Proving Social Media Can Change the World

Ever hear someone dismiss Facebook or Twitter as dumb wastes of time? This is your chance to prove them wrong.

The Social Media Smackdown and Twestival have been great demonstrations of the power of social media in changing the world. If you haven’t had the chance to show the world that social media really is a driving force in our society with these charities, then now’s your chance with a donation to the Summer of Social Good.

5. Because You Don’t Have to Even Donate Money to Help

Wait, what?! Isn’t the Summer of Social Good a charity drive? Yes, yes it is, but that does not mean you can’t help these great charities via social media in other ways. In fact, my colleague Sharon Feder highlighted 5 great ways to help the Summer of Social Good. I’m going to summarize the first four right now:

1. Donate.

2. Retweet: Ford Motors is donating $1.50 for each retweet of Top 10 YouTube Videos for Social Good and $2.00 for each retweet of HOW TO: Support Social Good on Your Blog. 30 seconds and you’ll have helped donate $3.50 to charity.

3. Watch a Video: Ford is once again displaying its generosity by donating $1 for every video view of the Ford Fiesta Movement video. Watch a video, save the planet.

4. Attend the Summer of Social Good Conference This Friday.

6. Because You Can Help Us Understand The Web’s Impact on Charitable Giving

Social media and charitable giving have been uncharted waters, and we’ve learned a lot from running this campaign. However, your input, thoughts, and donations on the Social Good survey will help improve charitable giving on the web for years to come.

7. Because We Need You

I hope you will support me and the Mashable team in our efforts to change the world for the better. I cannot even begin to explain my passion for making this world better. I hope you have a similar passion, no matter how you choose to make your mark.

Today I was reading through my usual news sources on the train when I stumbled across this article by Zed Shaw on Hacker News. Aptly titled “I’m Moving To San Francisco, I Need A Job,” the well-known programmer (and nemesis to Ruby on Rails developers everywhere) announces that he’s moving from NYC and wants to be situated with a job and a place by September 1st.

For the normal individual, if he or she made that type of post on his or her personal blog, nobody would hear, and thus nobody would listen. But that won’t be the case for Zed Shaw. He’s going to get interviews every day he’s in SF and he’s going to have the leverage to choose a company and a job that suits him – not to mention compensation.

So why can he do this? Why does he have this type of leverage? Two comments in the Hacker News thread caught my attention:

This is why having a well-known online presence is important.

It’s worth noting that it’s an online presence backed by serious code, which makes Zed worth listening to (and hiring). It seems like many online presences have the attitude without supplying the code.

• Zed has strong visibility in programming and technology circles. His up-front nature, his blogging, and his wit have all earned him an online persona.
• Zed can back it up with some damn good code (*cough*Mongrel*cough*

His abilities are the foundation of his online image, but his communication skills cannot be underestimated either. Combined, they allow him to do this sort of thing. And there are plenty of other people who can do the same thing if they need to get a job, recruit new employees, etc.

I cannot stress enough the importance of building an online presence. Yes, it can be egotistical, but only if you let that happen. You may think it’s not important, but when you’re handed a pink slip without a large network to tap into, you’ll be regretting it.

I’ll write a more detailed post on building your online presence in the future, but in the meantime, keep networking, keep writing, keep tweeting, and stay relevant.

Oh, and most importantly, build something of value. There is a reason people listen to Zed, after all.

[Image thanks to Adewale Oshineye on Flickr]

I have several major announcements to make, many of which you have seen if you’ve been following my Facebook or my Twitter stream.

1. I have left Spine-health:

If you did not know, I was the Interactive Content Manager for Spine-health, the web’s leading patient resource on back pain and chronic pain. I did everything from SEO (search engine optimization) to usability to adding new doctor-written content to the website.

I have nothing but the most profound respect for Stephanie Burke, Sylvia Marten, and the Spine-health team. However, I decided it was time for some changes in my life. It has been a great learning experience, and I am glad to have left on great terms.

2. I am now Associate Editor at Mashable:

I have been an occasional writer for Mashable since August 2008. But perhaps you’ve noticed a recent influx of articles from me in March, especially on weekends. Well that’s because I was training for a new role, as associate editor at Mashable. Mashable, for those who do not know, is a leading news and resource blog on social media and web technology. Now I get to talk about, debate, and discuss social media like Twitter, Facebook, iPhone applications, and more.

I can’t wait to discuss social media with the world! Interested in my writing? You can always find my work at my Mashable Author Page.

3. I have started an analytics and consulting firm:

Mashable won’t be my only job. I have opened up a consulting firm, Engage Analytics, which will provide strategic and consulting services in three specific areas:

• Website Optimization and Usability
• Web Analytics
• Web and Social Media Marketing

For more details (and a rough look at the still-being-built website, visit here.

4. I am co-hosting Tech&Beer, a live tech entertainment show:

In the next month, Matt Schlicht and I will be launching Tech&Beer, a twice-weekly live tech entertainment show. On the show, Matt and I will bring aboard tech personalities, entrepreneurs, and celebrities as co-hosts. We will interview them and discuss the week’s major technology-related events with them. We will use audience questions and topics to fuel the show. And as the title may indicate, we will drink beer and have a little fun as well!

Each episode will air live on Ustream.tv as well as be recorded via Vimeo. If you’re interested in the show (either as a co-host, sponsor, or interested fan), be sure to email Mazy Kazerooni, our producer, at mazy[at]techandbeer.com.

Also, follow the Techandbeer Twitter account.

5. I am moving to Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay:

The final announcement, and perhaps the most significant, is that I am relocating from Chicagoland to the heart of Silicon Valley. I’ve lived in Illinois my entire life, with brief stints in Santa Barbara, Croatia, D.C., and Thailand. Chicago has been great, but I need a chance of scenery.

The Tech&Beer show will be broadcast from Mountain View, CA, and I will be covering stories for Mashable from the silicon technology hub. I leave for San Fran/the valley on April 13th.

I will have more to announce and discuss in the next few weeks, but wanted to let you all know now. . Thanks for your support. I’ll try to post more about all of this soon.

Finances, organization, and priorities are simply a necessity in life. Without them, it’s impossible for society to function because work will never get done and the most important tasks will never get tackled. This is especially true in business. Some of the things a business has to think about:

• Cash Flow: A business either needs to be making more than it takes in or have enough cash flow to sustain itself until it has achieved profitability (burn rate).
• Functionality: A business’s products must be in demand. It has to be useful, entertaining, or in some way valuable to the consumer. Otherwise, the business dies.
• Organization: Businesses, from one-man operations to conglomerates, must keep personnel, finances, taxes, and information organized and readily accessible if it hopes to succeed.
• Competition: If an industry is profitable, a business can expect stiff and smart competition that will challenge it for customers.
• Prioritization: A business must know what projects are the most important and set everything else aside. Getting 80% of things 80% done is far worse than getting 30% of priorities 100% done.

Each and every one of these qualities and realms are important to a business. None can be ignored for a business to success. None of these qualities can be ignored for an individual to succeed.

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During the Dot Com Bubble, the most popular business model was spend like hell to drive growth and buy million dollar Super Bowl ads. The focus was not on business models. After the rash, we endured a lull. But now, a new breed of Internet company exploded onto the scene, a movement most know as Web 2.0 (more accurately, social media).

Although accelerated growth still remains the dominant goal of most Internet startups, they have avoided many of the mistakes of Dot Com Bubble companies. They have paid special attention to building business models, primarily advertising-based ones. But now that model has come under fire, and a newer model is gaining in popularity: the freemium business model. I want to talk a little about its rise and the future of freemium in online business.

The Woes of Internet Startups

Recently, the problem has not been overexuberance, but the inability of many Internet companies to build sustainable profits. Many social media websites rely on advertising dollars to generate revenue. Advertising is the primary source of income for Google, Digg, Facebook, and almost all blogs. But for a lot of these companies, advertising has not been enough.

An example: the social media powerhouse Digg is still unable to amass a profit after four years. It incurred a loss of nearly $5 million in the first three quarters of 2008. Powerhouse Facebook faces these challenges as well. Its value has plummeted from a $15 billion dollar high to a speculated $3.7 billion because of monetization concerns. And with the economy (and advertising eCPMs) sinking like a boulder in a lake, venture capitalists have ratcheted up the pressure on their companies to turn a profit or shut down.

A great deal of discussion has occurred on social media channels over the best business model for companies in the Internet industry. More and more, companies are turning away from advertising-based business models and turning towards the freemium model. In the freemium model, you offer a free or trial version and a paid, advanced version of your product.
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Creating powerpoints is a task most people tend to dread. Hell, most people don’t like powerpoint slides when they’re viewing a presentation. They are stuffed with boring bullet points, images that add nothing to the presentation, and monotone speakers that knock you out like an Ambien.

This is the wrong way to approach a presentation. This is the wrong way to build a presentation, and this post is intended to help you build a killer presentation utilizing slides that keeps people on their toes and in baited breath for what you’re going to say next.

Using the example presentation below (it’s the slide set I used for my presentation at the Kellogg School of Business), I’m going to outline 12 tips for building unique slides for engaging and successful presentations. And as a side note, if you want to see this type of presentation in action, I will be speaking at the Facebook Developer Garage tomorrow (Feb. 20th) at the headquarters of Where I’ve Been.

The first rule is the most important – YOU are presenting, not the projector. If you put all of your points, thoughts, and statements on the slides, it will become the focus of the audience. Avoid this at all costs You want the audience to focus on you, not the presentation. Notice how I only use sentences when I’m posting quotes – I want people to focus on the sentences coming out of my mouth, not on the screen.

The corollary to rule #1 is to limit the amount of information on slides. You do NOT need to tell the story on the slides. In fact, it should be the opposite. The slides should only be a prompt, an image, a graph, or some other visual cue that either sums up what you’re talking about or is an aid to show information that is hard to digest orally. If a person has to take even 30 seconds to read an entire slide, you’ve lost them for several minutes, because they are not listening to you.
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