Erlend Wilhelmsen

Free virtual gifts... so you can keep your house

Too much noise

I'm committed to noise reduction. Therefore, I've decided to blog less.

Self improvement tools - Part II

A while back, when I really felt the need for some self-improvement, I had a look at a couple of different Web startups who I thought might be worth watching. Archived post is here. Today, I went back to see how they were doing and I have to say I found a clear winner.

The Traineo user experience is really excellent. I had a good swing at it and it held up. The design is clean and uncluttered (nice job!) and the light-weight tools do the job they need to do and nothing more.

I was considering taking a deep look at PeerTrainer, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. The site just doesn't do it for me. It's too cluttered. I don't want tools, member posts, community threads, team activity, diet, fitness, health, groups, and tours. I want something simple. I don't have time to go on a discovery mission through the eight+ sections of the site. I just want a product that solves my two issues: 1) set up a program, and 2) motivate me daily to take action (through my iPhone). That's it.

Trying to do too much is "normal" in this space. Don't do it. Keep your product simple. Work on your user experience and make the design really sing. That's what Traineo has done and it works.

Now, I'm going to swim for the first time in a year. Go Phelps!

Check your head before you put ads in social networks

All the cool kids are playing in the social networking playground. Even the big kids want in. Fortune 500 and mainstream brands. They want to be cool. They want to be where the smart kids are. So they grab their ads, their banners, their messaging and head outside.

But the kids don't care. They don't click. They don't bite. Dammit. Wonder why?

Discovery - isn't it lovely

Today was one of those days. I decided to spend much of my day just browsing around the Internet looking for interesting stuff. Since I love to see what other people think is cool, I got stuck on BestStuff.com. I kept hitting the "suprise me" button on the top right. Had a beer. Had a coffee. Oh, I found a lot of good stuff. Try it yourself. Come on'

I really like this site. They got a few features right and that's what matters the most. As mentioned, the "Suprise me" feature is awesome. I also like the "Votes by Category" view in the right column. If it could be moved up a bit, that would be even better. Nice shoes. Hair. Its all good.

This does remind me a bit of 43 Things. However, I think the interface is more interesting and bold. Keep it cool, lads and ladies. This is good.

I could have been a Yahoo advocate

They had me in 1999. Then in 2001 with another shot at 2004. They never made an effort to really get to know me. That's Yahoo!'s problem. Its quite simple actually. If you don't understand your customer, you won't ever be able to capitalize on the relationship.

What's your opinion? Does Yahoo! get you?

Social media list

Just came across this list on Top 9 Social Media Guides. Lots of interesting reading there. Thanks Chris Kieff!

Sasha & Digweed @ WMC in Miami

The Road Trip kicked off with two great shows in Miami. Lots of pictures, video, and some cool stories are available here: Sasha & Digweed in Miami. Next, Boston. Watch out!