I caught this article in Slate, and thought it was a good wake-up-call for anyone starting their own small business — especially in industries that are oft-romanticized. Like, say, cozy cafe’s or consumer tech startups.

“The dream of running a small cafe has nothing to do with the excitement of entrepreneurship or the joys of being one’s own boss—none of us would ever consider opening a Laundromat or a stationery store, and even the most delusional can see that an independent bookshop is a bad idea these days.”

I’m happy to say, that after two years, I’m still happy “slinging coffee”. Hopefully we’ll make more than 8 bucks an hour though. If not, there’s always the free pastries.

We talk a lot about alternatives to traditional advertising. While we’ve focused mainly on companies providing (and branding) useful services on the internet to their customers, that’s certainly not the only avenue to explore. I love the idea of businesses taking their ad budgets and engaging in projects that are focused on the public good. (Note: our own Carbon Grove as an example.) The Good Blog talks about this direction:

These are scary days if you’re in the ad business, and not because the economy has bolted out from under us and off into a canyon. No, it’s scary because on the other side, there’s more terror still, because even when consumers begin to buy again, it’ll be harder to reach them. They don’t buy print media; they skip past television ads using their DVRs; they ignore pop-ups and banner ads online. And even if they’ve noticed your ads and go shopping for your gizmo, your $300 million ad-spend might be undone by a single, anonymous reviewer on Amazon: “This product sucks.”

more…

When we started Jackson Fish Market, the first problem we decided to address was the lack of great options for brand advertisers online. Our simple premise was that useful and entertaining software on the web had the capability of engaging online audiences (both in terms of minutes spent and depth of engagement) much more cost-effectively than traditional brand advertising, online (banners and videos) or offline. Our belief that this is the ultimate destination of brand advertisers on the web has not changed. We believe that eventually all major (and not so major) brand advertisers will be providing useful software on the web that resonates with their audience and their brand. The software will typically be provided for free, and the company branding and product placement in the app will be tasteful, coherent, and complementary to the app’s function.

I can’t say it was surprising to me that the moment I left a big company and started a small one it would be much harder to get people’s attention in the industry. But, perhaps to the chagrin of some of the folks I’ve wanted to talk to, I can be persistent. The folks at the industry’s ad:tech conference are no exception. I’ve been bugging them to let me speak on the topic of Branded Software Experiences for some time. Imagine my surprise when today’s marketing e-mail from the ad:tech folks was about how to “Reach Consumers with Integration of Software, Digital Ads”. We’ve applied to speak at the conference being held in San Francisco this April. And even if we don’t make it this time, I do expect we’ll be speaking there eventually. Even more important than whether we speak is the fact that ad:tech recognizes the area of branded software as an important theme in the online advertising world.

Another group of folks who’ve been the “lucky” recipients of my attention are the folks at the Custom Publishing Council. This is the industry group for the companies that create branded content for big brands, like magazines for airlines and health insurers. Their annual Custom Content Conference is being held this March in Miami and the topic is “The Future of Branded Content”. Needless to say, we believe that branded online experiences are a key pillar of the future of branded content. And lucky for us, they agree. I’ll be speaking at their conference this year. You can check out the details on their site.

If you’re in Miami in March, hopefully we’ll see you there. And hopefully you’ll have another opportunity to see us in April at ad-tech. Either way, we’re just excited that the industry is starting to recognize what we’re doing as a core component of the future of online advertising.

I think it’s fair to say that people often describe owning your own home as the American dream. (Let’s put aside for the moment the number of those dreams experiencing a setback in today’s economy.) Back in May 2007 the New York Times described the dream of home ownership as “a bedrock notion of society promoted by presidents for decades.” (Ironically the article was about how it might not be for everyone given the looming mortgage crisis.)

If we all generally accept that home ownership is a worthy dream for every American, even though every American might not get there, why don’t we believe that business ownership is an equivalent worthy dream for every American. I’m not talking about playing the stock market. I mean owning your own business.

I got a little inspired for this post by Damir Horvat’s post “Fuck college education, start minding your own businness instead“. He writes:

“What are the alternatives? There are a few, but the best one is to start your own business. Yes, I’ll say it again, start your own business. I know, it’s hard, you may fail, go broke, loose few friends, gain few enemies, … I’ve heard it all. Even seen some of it. “

Jenny points out that not everyone can own their own business… there have to be employees sometimes. But Jenny and Walter and I own our business. We are also the only full-time employees. Two of our most used contractors also own their own businesses (and we’re their favorite customer!). But her point still stands. And while we may agree that home ownership is the dream, we also know that there may always be people who don’t own their own homes.

In general I find that for the vast majority of Americans, getting real independence (both in terms of how you spend your time and the financial variety) fundamentally comes down to whether you own something. When a business succeeds, your chances of being able to walk away with a non-trivial percentage of the proceeds typically depend on whether you have ownership or not.

Maybe what’s necessary is a new standard for Americans where their dream is to either own their own business, or work at a business where they’re treated like owners (guaranteed to participate in a significant percentage of the upside, treated like adults, etc.). Maybe if this was the dream, we’d have not only a lot more new businesses popping up, but a lot more businesses who need to treat employees like owners in order to attract them.

Kevin Meyer posted a nice little trip report on his visit to American Apparel on the Venture Hacks blog. Not sure there’s much I can add to the writeup. It’s inspiring. I know we’re a tiny fraction of a fraction but i believe we have some of this DNA. From the piece:

“Brief background on why I like them so much: this is a $500 million manufacturer of t-shirts, underwear, and the like. Typically low margin products, the kind of thing that usually comes from Asian and Central American sweatshops.

But not at American Apparel. This company makes over 1 million articles of clothing per week, from their one factory in Los Angeles and they grew 40% this year. They pay their 5,000-person workforce significantly above minimum wage (average is $12-$15 per hour), give them full subsidized benefits (such as high quality health care insurance for $8 per week), and they turn a profit.

This should embarrass the heck out of any executive who thinks he has to outsource in order to find cheap labor. Or at least call into question his fundamental competence as a leader. If American Apparel can manufacture low margin clothing efficiently enough to beat the sweatshops (in California no less), then anyone should be able to. If they try hard enough.”

Love it.

It took awhile but today we finally got a piece of mail from someone who either lives (or lived) in Elmore City, Oklahoma. Elmore City, for those who don’t know is not only the name of our make-your-own-dance app - Elmore City Dance Club, but also a real place on which the movie Footloose was loosely based. Lisa, a graduate of the class of 1982, congratulations on noticing our little site.

Well, it’s 4:45 on our first day back at work after break and I keep forgetting to blog. Not a good sign for blogging, but a very good sign given all the work we have to do. Everyone had a fun break and our Jackson Fish family grew a little as Walter now has an adorable puppy. I’m sure she won’t distract him from coding. We also have stocked the office full of way too many snacks and treats (many of which are even healthy-ish). Come by if you’re hungry.

It’s late December, Seattle is covered in snow (finally) and what more could you want than some adorable delicious gingerbread cookies made by Jenny? How about a picture of some adorable delicious gingerbread cookies made by Jenny? And yes, I know, this is the bloggiest break we’ve ever had. The blog is supposed to be paused until we get back to work on January 5th 2009, but I just had to post about these cookies. Notice the little Jackson Fish Market storefront cookie and the Kondo (the little guy from Invitastic) cookies. Mmm mmm good.

Through the hard work of our own wonderful Mary-Alice, What a Lovely Name has just gotten way way better. We try not to toot our own horn too much but for the geeks in us this new addition to our baby naming site is just too much fun.

What a Lovely Name now includes names from “Other Worlds” including Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, Narnia, and of course… Middle Earth.

So if you want to name your child Faramir, Aslan, or Padmé then this is the place to go!

(Yes… we know the listings aren’t exhaustive — e.g. ST is mostly NG — we will be adding more as time goes on.)

And since it’s supposed to be vacation right now, we promise, no more posts until after the new year.

Even though we’re on winter break here at JFM we had to interrupt the peace and quiet of our blog because Bob Garfield wrote a huge and thoughtful piece for AdAge on widgets. Given that we’re at the very early stages of having advertisers fund useful consumer web apps, any time someone super influential, like Bob, starts beating the drum, it’s big news. The last time this happened was this past March, also in AdAge with an article from Matthew Creamer talking about how maybe ads on the web should be useful apps instead of just yelling messages.

This time, Bob is coming at the issue head on describing the disconnect between the potential for reaching users with software given how potentially effective and inexpensive it can be vs. the reality of how few marketers are seriously engaging in this area. And it’s true that we focus on full apps here at Jackson Fish Market, but to us they’re just the natural extension of what advertisers are (or should be) doing with widgets. Of course, the main point of Bob’s article is that never mind our full blown apps, marketers aren’t yet utilizing mini-apps/widgets the way they should. Bob describes the benefits better than I ever could:

“At a maximum, the widget is something like the magical connection between marketers and consumers, not only replacing the one-way messaging long dominated by media advertising but vastly outperforming it. Because online the link is literal and direct, and along its path, data of behavior, preference and intention are left at every step. Oh, and your target consumers actually go out searching for your branded gimcrack. Oh, and they display it within easy reach. Oh, and they pass copies along to their friends and associates. Oh, and because they’ve been turned on by a friend, they are hospitable and receptive recipients. And, oh, in case this didn’t quite register the first time I mentioned it, the barriers to entry are preposterously low.”

And, lucky us, we’re quoted all throughout the article.

So attention brand marketers who wandered over here curious after reading Bob’s piece:

• the best way for you to do brand marketing on the web that engages an audience is through the creation of useful web apps
• whether those apps are small widgets or full blown sites doesn’t matter. What matters is that you start understanding and using the medium now.
• and in case you were confused… here at Jackson Fish Market, not only do we have a portfolio of six brandable web apps ready to go, but we have dozens of ideas for new apps that could be a perfect fit for your goals, your audience, and your budget.

We now return you to your otherwise peaceful month of December. (And potential customers have no fear, even though we’re on break, we can’t help but be on e-mail all the time anyway, so get in touch.)

It’s been a busy month here at Jackson Fish Market, and now it’s time to pursue some other interests. JFM is officially “on break”. Luckily through the magic of technology, all of our websites will continue to function. And if they don’t, alarms will be raised, fighter jets will scramble, people will be woken up at ungodly hours, and typing will ensue until everything is back as it should be.

We hope everyone has a great set of Winter holidays and hopefully gets some time off as well. As much as we love working at Jackson Fish Market we each love doing all sorts of other things too so extended time off is key. If you need to get in touch with us though, don’t worry, we’re all still on mail. BECAUSE WE’RE HUGE NERDS (yes Jenny… you too!).

Jackson Fish Market will reopen for business bright and early on Monday, January 5, 2009. Have a lovely rest of 2008.

Welcome to the second installment of Jackson Fish Market’s Holiday Gift Guide. We’re pleased to share a few gift ideas for your favorite designer, friend, or family member. And if you’re worried about spending in this down economy, we’ve provided gift ideas ranging from a nifty $3 up to a hefty $100 buckeroos. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Typographic City Posters from Ork Posters. Channeling Paula Scher’s awesome maps!

How about a voucher to have your picture taken with your friend or sweetie? It costs just about $3 for 4 images. Just use this handy photobooth locator here.

OXO Mango Slicer. Brilliant!

Pac-Man glass set for that old school gamer buddy of yours.

These beautiful glass EcoSpheres are self-sustaining, fully-closed ecosystems. Perfect for that person who is too busy to keep plants/pets alive.

Take-G Crafts. How cool are these wooden toys?

Phaidon 3 Volume Design Classics. Can I just say daaaaaayummm, the packaging is cool!

Subscription to Craft or Make magazine. Ok, ok, I know you can read some of these magazines online (which I do!) but it makes a really nice gift for someone who’s too cheap to buy printed form. (hint hint :))

Hi Dell folks:

I have a monitor I purchased from you awhile ago. The power button is busted. All my other Dell products perform admirably, so while this is irritating, I wasn’t too upset. However, after dealing with your customer service organization for the last hour I am on the verge of killing myself. A few thoughts. Do with them what you will:

• I don’t have the record of my purchase handy so I tried to find out whether my monitor was still under warranty on your web site. No luck as there is no service number on the monitor. And your website doesn’t even list LCD monitors as a category that have service tags. Everyone I spoke to on the phone was obsessed with what computer I was using thinking that I purchased the monitor with a Dell computer and they could look up the service tag on that. Guess what, I’m, not using a Dell computer. I just bought the monitor.
• I would document the endless repetition of your automated customer service prompts that continue to ask me the same question over and over at each level of the tree even though I’ve been clear every time that “NO, I AM NOT CALLING ABOUT A PRODUCT THAT I HAVE YET TO PURCHASE AND DO NOT WANT TO BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR SALES PEOPLE” but I simply don’t have the energy.
• Between all the transfers I endured from your customer service folks I ended up talking to five different Dell employees. None of which were able to help me. Each was obsessed with finding my order number for the monitor. I was able to log into my account on dell.com and after some convoluted clicking i found a screen which claimed to have my order history for the last two years. It didn’t. I told the people on the phone I could give them my account name. They said that wouldn’t work. They asked for a customer number. I have 10. Seriously, there are TEN different customer numbers associated with my Dell.com account. Dell, please go buy some stuff on amazon.com. Go to your order history. It’s very simple. They can tell you exactly what you ordered, when, for how much, etc. Why in 2008 you are unable to do this I do not know.
• When I decided my monitor was probably not under warranty I went to the place on the Dell website to find out how to get my monitor serviced out of warranty. They wanted $49 for me to talk to someone to tell me how to get it serviced. Am I insane for not wanting to pay $49 to find out how to get my monitor fixed?
• With each person I spoke to I gave them my phone number in case I got disconnected. Despite getting disconnected three times, nobody every called me back.
• Apple fanboys, wipe those smirks off your faces. I was calling on my 3g iPhone and it was at fault for the continuous dropped calls — even after I switched off 3g. Horrible.

I’m going to stop worrying about this right now as I may lose my mind if I waste another minute dealing with this. But if anyone at Dell is listening:

• I own one of your monitors.
• The power button is busted
• I want to get it fixed.
• I am willing to pay you to fix it.
• If you can help me without forcing me to spend more time interacting with your website or customer service people (neither of which appear to have any idea what to do about this seemingly simple problem) then please send me mail and tell me what to do.

Thank you.

We’ve already shared our thoughts on what bootstrapping means, but when I read this piece on bootstrapping I couldn’t help but share since I think it’s pretty much on:

“When you decide to bootstrap, you commit to fund primary development and growth through internal cash flow from real-life customers. You — the founder — and a limited number of early employees may forgo paychecks for quite some time to make this work. But to keep that strategy to a minimum, it’s common for bootstrapping companies to turn to consulting engagements, non-recurring engineering contracts, value-added reseller agreements and projected supplier contracts. In short, “moonlighting.” These funds go toward initial growth and expansion until the company can stand on its own two feet.”

Well said. I would also add that, at least in our observation, a significant percentage (i think the majority) of companies that are funded by VCs today would be better off as bootstraps. There’s a paragraph at the end of the article describing how some companies can’t take the bootstrap path. This is true of course. But there should also be a paragraph describing the startups that shouldn’t take the VC path. I believe when a company that can bootstrap, takes VC, it can warp their values, and ultimately may lower their chances at success.

I think we’re in a world right now where bootstrapping is the exception (in our industry), and VC is the norm. I think that should be inverted.

There are many ways we could count the start of Jackson Fish Market: the day the state issued our license, the day Jenny showed up, the day we got our first paying gig, the day we got our first check, etc. But in this webby world it seems like the day our web site went up is the proper way to count our launch. Two years ago today, Monday, November 20, 2006, this website went up with our very first post (appropriately titled “Hello World”).

Some stats from the past couple of years:

• Founders: 3
• Full-time employees: 3
• Number of full-time employees that are also founders: 3
• Contractors who have worked for us: 38
• Interns we’ve employed: 3
• Apps we’ve shipped that we own: 6 (the first one shipped in July of 2007, 8 months after the company launched)
• Consulting jobs we’ve done: 16
• Number of blog posts (including this one): 1284
• Locations we’ve occupied: 2 (across the hall from each other)
• Number of weeks where we’ve shut down the business so we could all have time off: 15
• Page views our sites have generated: 4,185,712.
• Dollars of investment we’ve taken from venture capital, angels, family, friends, ourselves: 0*

* In the interest of full disclosure, while we haven’t put any of our own money into the business, all three of us make substantially less money than we could in the corporate world (or at least used to be able to in the corporate world). So that’s a form of subsidy, but we haven’t transferred any money from our pockets into the business.

The business stories that humans tend to like reading typically involve overnight success. And I think I understand why that is. When the success is described as happening suddenly, it somehow makes it feel like it could happen to us. Fate could shine on each and every one of us and sweep us into a huge winning situation. I try not to read too many of those stories. Instead I like the stories about businesses that are built one small step at a time. And invariably, when you ask the people who are overnight successes how it went, they will confide in you that they worked hard for 5, 10, 15, 20 years before their success happened “overnight”. Obviously I like these stories because that’s the template I believe we’re following. These stories because they make me feel like it could will happen to us.

On the one hand, I look at where we are and can see almost nothing but the huge heavy lifting we have ahead of us to grow this business into the entity that Jenny, Walter, and I envision. But on the other hand, two short years ago, even in my most wildly optimistic moments you couldn’t get me to speculate that we’d be where we are after only two years. While we still have a long way to go, I am incredibly proud of where we’ve gotten to so far.

And most importantly, creating our own future, while fraught with doubts, and certainly no sure bet, has been the most rewarding, enjoyable, and uplifting work experience I have ever had. This is thanks in no small part to the people I get to work with (customers, partners, and contractors), but Walter and Jenny especially.

We have lots of good stuff planned for our third year of existence. We hope you’ll stay tuned as we build our business brick by virtual brick.

We’re coming up on our second anniversary in business and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with the launch of a new web app. Our latest creation is – What a Lovely Name™.

What a Lovely Name is a baby naming resource featuring thousands of names, origins, and explanations. Browse by personality traits, or cultural traditions, or even see what celebrities are naming their babies. Once you’ve found some great names, you can send them to friends to get their reactions. For every name in our database, What a Lovely Name will generate a custom logo. You can tweak the logo until you love it and then download it to use any way you like or even buy merchandise emblazoned with the logo. This is a perfect way to create great personalized gifts when a newborn arrives on the scene.

(BTW, don’t tell anyone, but you can even create personalized merchandise for yourself. No baby necessary.)

We’d love for you to check it out, browse the names, generate some logos, and maybe even buy a customized product. Your feedback and comments, as always, are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for taking a few minutes to try out the new site if you get a moment. And of course, if you’re interested in sponsoring the site. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

P.S. Instead of a launch party for our latest release we decided to make a short video. Hope you like it. No babies were harmed in the making of the video.

My friend Steve forwarded this article from Time on the demise of Circuit City and the rise of Best Buy. But if you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, Steve summarizes it quite well:

“Best Buy is bright and fun; Circuit City is dark and grim.”

Dark and grim don’t make me want to buy stuff. CompUSA was the same way. I think they hired Circuit City’s interior designer.

You certainly don’t need this blog to tell you that the economy is in trouble and there’s a lot of uncertainty. And while reviewing all your efforts with a careful eye, and spending conservatively is always good advice, it’s certainly something that everyone is doing now. I think everyone is asking themselves: “am i doing everything that would withstand scrutiny given the reality of the market right now?”

But… once that’s done, now is also the time for companies to double down. Not to oversimplify, but companies like Procter and Gamble and Chevrolet gained market share during the great depression, with increased marketing being a non-trivial factor in their gains. But not everyone always has the budget to double down on brand marketing. Even in the best of times it’s hard to justify spending on experimental new media, in hard times, shouldn’t it be impossible?

Here at Jackson Fish Market we produce brandable online experiences that are focused on engagement. You can rent our experiences instead of building them yourself. You can choose from our existing experiences (They’re Beautiful!, Invitastic, Carbon Grove, Elmore City Dance Club, and They’re Ugly!). Each of these can be ready for you to use in a matter of days. We also produce new experiences from scratch that can be ready in a few short months or even weeks depending on the size.

Here are three key reasons you should sponsor interactive branded online experiences (from Jackson Fish Market or elsewhere) in the coming months:

1. With tightening budgets, consumers are going to spend more time at home. Trends are already showing that when consumers are at home, they’re spending less time in front of their televisions, and more time in front of their computers. This is the venue in which to reach your audience. And what better way to reach these customers than with a free and useful online service. We know how to build engaging and useful services that feature your brand exclusively. We know how to design functionality that resonates with your audience and reflects your brand values. With these sites, you’re in the right place, with the right service, at the right price.
2. Renting branded experiences is way cheaper than building your own. While many agencies will build you a site and then move on to the next project, we let you lease our sites for as long or as short as you like. Our experience has shown that leasing sites from us not only keeps our shared priorities aligned, but it can cut your annual costs from 50-75% relative to building and managing your own site. And if you’re worried about long-term ownership, we’re happy to work with you on long-term discounts, exclusivity, and even buy-out clauses. Building high quality software that engages an online audience and is more than a 2 minute distraction is more difficult you might think. And despite the economy, finding software talent (design and programming) can be a struggle. We can build something great, exclusively for your brand, on a budget.
3. Engagement online is eminently measurable. In tough economic times, metrics and measuring ROI take on even more importance than usual (and they’re already pretty important). Online experiences are incredibly measurable in multiple dimensions. It’s more than hits or page views or even unique visitors. It’s how many minutes people spend using your branded service, how many people they share it with, how many times they return of their own accord, etc. Did you know that users of our virtual flower service They’re Beautiful! who have planted their flowers in a virtual greenhouse return an average of 8 times to water their virtual flowers? Wouldn’t you like to have a service where your audience is returning on its own to use the service, and accruing value to your brand, the exclusive sponsor of that service.

Bottom line, here at Jackson Fish Market we:

• build beautiful online experiences
• our experiences are designed to engage audiences
• we have several that are ready for you to sponsor (and customize) today
• we can build new ones from scratch, just for your brand, in a relatively short time
• sponsoring these experiences cost a fraction of what it would cost to build your own (even over multiple years)

And most importantly…

• We love working with great folks, who are marketing great brands.

Get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

Happy Halloween everyone. We whipped up a fun app for everyone just in time for the holiday. Hopefully you’ll enjoy using it year round. Please check out our latest creation — They’re Ugly!.

Enjoy.

P.S. For anyone with long dead flowers in their They’re Beautiful! greenhouse, you may want to go check them out. We added a small but oft requested feature. Same goes for your They’re Ugly! conservatory.