FreshYields - Ecommerce and Internet Marketing Solutions

To help spread the word for my wife’s new venture, I am replicating her contest on my site.

Piggybacking a little off my last post about entrepreneurship, the Big Guy and I have started a new website called Babblz.com.

What is Babblz? I would be lying if we didn’t say we are taking inspiration from Digg, Reddit and the like. I have been using Digg for my articles over at DiabetesNotes.com with some success. But when I went to submit something that I wrote for this site, I had now idea where to catorgorize it!

So we decided to start a similar site for mommy and daddy bloggers. A place where stories from across the web can be collected and shared. We decided to try a contest to get the word out and to get some feedback for the new site. So here are the details:

1. You must sign up for a new account at Babblz.com, and submit at least one story. Submitting more than one would be awesome, but will have no effect on your chance of winning.
2. You must put a link on your site to Babblz.com. It would be great if the link text said Babblz - Tell Us How You Really Feel. It be even greater if you wrote a small review about our site, or gave us feedback.
3. A prize will be awarded every 75 signups. At that time, a winner will be randomly selected. After 75 more users sign up, a new prize will be awarded to one of the 150 users, minus the previous winner. We hope to continue this until we get to 300 users.
4. If at least 75 users do not sign up, the contest will be null and void

That’s it! If you have any questions, please leave a comment here on my blog. Oh yeah, almost forgot. the prize is…

A Bath & Body Works Signature Collection™ gift basket. If you win, you will have your choice Passion Fruit, Cherry Blossom, or Japanese Cherry Blossom scents. You can see more about the prize here.

So sign up, spread the word, and start sharing you crazy stories!

You see it all the time in the sports world. The latest example is Scottie Pippen, the former basketball great who played most of his career with the Chicago Bulls. It happens often in boxing. Buster Douglas attempted to come back, but was unsuccessful. Probably the most famous example was the great George Foreman. We all know how well that turned out, both in the ring and the business world. Sometimes athletes come back because they miss the competition and excitement. Other times, it’s all about the money. In most cases, it’s probably both.

I have been ‘retired’ from true enterprise-level web application and database development for about 6 years. I have held different project management and consulting roles since then. Don’t get me wrong, I can still code html, php, and css just fine. But thinking on a broad scale and being able to whip out database structures on the fly seems to have disappeared. And honestly I don’t know if I can get that back at this point. I have been using nothing but pre-built solutions like Wordpress, Textpattern, and other CMS tools.

Now I sit here at my desk with five or six web business concepts that, at first glance, look like they should be relatively simple to execute and produce revenue. But as I dive deeper into thought, that spark that would start a fire and allow me to kick out 40 tables in a custom CMS just isn’t there. I have to write everything down first, do a little research, and edit my notes and thoughts as I go. Jesus, I’m only 31! It kind of reminds me of that scene in Vegas Vacation were Clark Griswold is sitting in front of the TV, obsessively watching the baccarat infomercial. I repeat over and over out loud, “Bet on Ruby. Bet on AJAX. Search is a natural.”

But I know I’m not the developer I once was. Technology changes so fast, that if you fall behind, especially as far as I have, it’s extremely difficult to catch up.

Do I still have any value? I’d like to think so! I have experienced so much over my early career that would provide a great resource to any business. I may not be the hot shot programmer that works best in isolation and pumps out solutions in minutes. But now I’m a team player, and more important, a team leader. I have developed greatly in other areas of IT and business management thanks to training and experience.

So which one will I be, Buster Douglas or George Foreman? During Foreman’s comeback, he used not only his natural talent in the ring, but also the talent he acquired through his many business dealings. He had grown professionally, and I hope I have done the same.

Let me get a few things out of the way before diving deep into this post. First, I grew up and still live in the hometown of Cal Ripken Jr., Aberdeen, MD (Please don’t get me started on their website. We don’t use Mosaic anymore). Second, I surpassed his single game strikeout record at our shared high school, striking out 18 batters in a single game. I just like to mention that ;). Sure, his was in a state championship game, and mine was just a junior varsity game against the little sisters of the poor. Third, I am a season ticket holder to his Aberdeen Ironbirds short-season minor league team. Finally, I’m not privy to all the details of the situation at hand, whether it’s the business end or the political scene here in town.

The Baltimore Sun featured a story on the front page this morning talking about how the city of Aberdeen, MD was looking for someone to buy Ripken Stadium because of a coming deficit. You see, the city struck a horrible deal for them when building the stadium five years ago. They charge the team $1 a year in rent, and the team gets to keep most of the revenue from it’s games. The city seemed to be putting all of their eggs in the basket of a shopping complex, anchored by a multiplex, adjacent to the stadium. Well guess what? The complex has not been completed, nor has the condos on the property which were supposed to bring in more revenue. Now they are having trouble paying back the bonds they took to fund their portion of the construction, and things will only get worse as they are responsible for capital maintenance.

So should Cal Ripken’s group bail the city out? After all, the city of Aberdeen didn’t have many entertainment options before Ripken brought a minor league team here. All the games sell-out, and there is a long waiting list for season tickets. What more does the city want from him? This is nothing more than poor planning by the city. They have had 5 years to adjust. There are many well-documented circumstances that have been out of their control, but in the business world, you are supposed to identify all risks before going through with a project this large. If this would be a sound business decision for Ripken’s group, or any other group for that matter, you can be damn sure they identify all risks up front.

I’m frustrated. I need to vent. I was walking through Target today, looking to pick up some cheap t-shirts and anything else I could find. I have already given up on buying any jeans or pants there as they don’t carry my size, 38×34. They carry 36×34, but that’s just a little too tight around my legs and waist. Because of my height, I also can only buy XXL shirts, knowing that for the money that I’m paying, they will shrink a bit. XL shirts will not be long enough after washing.

Here’s the problem: XXL shirts cost $2 extra. Now this isn’t a big hit on the wallet, but I still take issue with this. The four sizes of S-M-L-XL all cost the same, but are we to believe that the extra fabric and sweatshop labor in making a XXL shirt is worth $2? Is the labor difference between a XL and XXL shirt greater than the difference between a S and XL shirt? Of course not. The reason the XXL shirts cost extra is because they don’t sell as many of them, so they tack on a premium. It isn’t just Target, many other companies add extra cost to XXL or Tall sizes. They probably would rather not make them at all. Even hen they close items out or put them a big sale, the price difference remains.

You might say, “Why don’t you just shop in a Big & Tall store?” Have you even seen the prices in those places? I have only bothered to check out a few, and they were outlets. Needless to say, I have never bought anything.

So what can I do about this? I can’t shrink. I guess I could lost some weight, but if you saw me you wouldn’t think I weigh as much as I do, so that probably wouldn’t help. Any ideas?

While it’s been no secret to some, Fresh Yields has temporarily closed it’s doors. Well, that should be door, since it was just the front door to my house. Many things have been going on for the past few months, but here is a summary:

• A few projects were taking way too long, and it was probably no ones fault but my own. I only have a few left on my plate, and I am trying to close them out as effectively as I can.
• While trying to get Fresh Yields off the ground, I still held a full-time job. Well, my real job’s duties increased big time, which left little time.
• Family. This may be the biggest thing, but by no means is it a bad thing. Juggling the two jobs while having 3 beautiful daughters under 6 years old and a very understanding wife become increasingly difficult. I really don’t know how some of you do it. It wasn’t that bad when they were younger. But now with homework after school, and soon sports practice or ballet, it’s just going to be too much for me. I would much rather spend time with them and not have to worry that I’m going to be up until 4 A.M coding. And, to be honest, my wife and I have been getting along much better since my workload decreased, although I think she is taking my place with her blogging.
• And finally, deadbeat clients suck. They lead to pissed off employees, who essentially worked for nothing. Any present and former clients that I still have a relationship with, please be sure to know I am not talking about you.

This does not mean I am finished with all things internet.  Hopefully quite the opposite.  Fresh Yields, the company, may be back and better than ever.  But for now, Fresh Yields will just be the blog home of Steve James.

Well, one organization doesn’t think so. Who cares if you are a blogger or a “real” journalist? I have seen plenty crappy “real” jounalists our there that can’t hold a candle to pro bloggers. Isn’t it the content that matters? I guess this is just a sign the “real” journalists are trying their best to hold their turf.

read more | digg story

I would have loved to been in the board meeting of the idiotic National Pork Board when someone decided that Jennifer’s Lactivist T-shirts were stealing their thunder.  This is all over one of her t-shirts saying “the other white milk”, derived from the pork slogan “the other white meat”.  Last I checked, milk is white.  I mean, ham is pink, and the pork in my pork fried rice is a browny color with a reddish skin.  They even imply that Jennifer’s humorist T-shirts are promoting the adult consumption of breast milk.  Get serious!

Congrats are in order for two FreshYields clients, Su Casa and The Corduroy Button. Both were selected Best of Baltimore by the City Paper. Both stores also won the reader’s poll for their respective categories. Su Casa won for “Best Place to Buy New Furniture“, while The Corduroy Button was tops for “Best Children’s Clothing Store”.

…image found on Seth Godin’s blog

Had some fun over the weekend reminiscing about the past.  I decided to do some research and see what some people I went to high school and college were up to through searches on Classmates.com and Myspace.  My finding were pretty interesting…

First, let me start by saying that I am 30 years old, have been out of high school for 12 years, and out of college for 8.  At 30, I am getting close to that creepy age on myspace, where some of the younger members are young enough to be my kids.  But I digress…

I have had a “listing” on classmates.com for a while, even though it was empty.  I think everyone who has ever attending high school in the United States has at least a blank listing.  I’m just happy they don’t scan everyone’s yearbook photos in.  Classmates.com is great for remembering names, but offers little information about the person you are searching for, either because their profiles are empty, or you have to pay to become a member to find out more info.  This is the old-school model of community websites.  While they are heavily ad-supported, they just give you a taste before making you cough of some dough. Hmm, this could be why there are so many blank profiles.

Myspace is a different story.  After filtering by school, only those who have myspace accounts are shown.  Those that are members are certainly not shy about posting picture and writing about themselves.  Myspace has similar profile questions as classmates.com, but most people do fill them out.  You also essentially get your own webpage and blog with myspace, with it’s own URL.  Myspace also music and  comedy sections, forums, classifieds, and much more.

Now, my results.  I was able to find a few people from high school on classmates.com.  It’s been really nice emailing them back and forth.  The big surprise was finding an old friend that was a foreign exchange student from Sweden, and an outstanding soccer player for our high school team.  Now he is a poker star in Sweden!  On myspace, I ended up creating my own page.  I’ve been able to find a few people from high school, and a few from college, and have been emailing them as well.  Myspace is great for the shock value of seeing what people you knew 15 years ago look like today.  Honestly, I am amazed some of them even know how to turn on a computer.

But what these two sites really demonstrate is the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, or whatever you want to call them.  Classmates.com, as much as it is trying to change, is still fairly one dimensional.  You go there to see if old classmates have filled out their profile, then you leave.  You may check back in a few months later, but chances are nothing has changed.  Myspace is all about social networking.  I can rekindle old friendships, even if only online, or even become “friends” with a popular local radio show.  You keep checking back in and getting your fix, sometimes hourly.  And that is why is the most visited site on the internet, and why is advertising delivery model is so effective.