How do you keep yourself in-the-loop with technology and other business need-to-knows? I won't be able to tell you how entrepreneurs that run their business full time do it. We're boot strapping our company, so the process is a bit more restrictive with our other full-time gigs in the way. For us - at Digital Alias, we use a couple of different tools, such as: Podcasts, RSS readers, and various social media tools to stay on the up n' up!

Podcasts

I'll have to say that listening to podcasts have really kept me in the loop with technology. I realized it one day while taking the metro that I've been in the "early adopters" group because I try out the products/services I hear from certain podcasts. If you're a Windows or Mac user iTunes will be your best place to start searching for podcasts. For everyone else you'll kind of have to do a bit of searching.  You're best starting place is to do a Google search for "podcast directory" or any sort of "directory". For instance I'll search for "linux podcast directory" or "atlanta business podcast directory", etc.  Here are a couple of good podcasts I listen to:

• TWiT (This Week in Tech) [rss]- This is the mecca of technology podcasting. Former TechTV host, Leo Laporte, provides a panel of tech experts (in their respective industries) to talk about what's going on right now.
• TWiST (This Week in Startups) [rss] - An awesome podcast for entreprenuers. It's hosted by Mahalo's Jason Calacanis and each week he interviews successful entreprenuers and they go into great detail about business skills and trade secrets.
• Boagworld [rss] - This is an EXCELLENT podcast for web developers and designers. Boagworld focuses on web standards and other web development concepts, from a business perspective. Now if only SitePoint would launch a podcast!
• Diggnation [rss] - In the beginning they used to really be helpful in keeping me in-the-loop, but lately they've turned more into an entertainment podcast than informative.
• FLOSS Weekly [rss] - For us Linux-heads, this is a great show that talks about projects outside of Linux. It's all about free and open software.

I have 13 other feeds, but they are mostly FOSS (free/open source software) or entertainment related. If you really want to know them, comment on this post and I'll list them.

When To Listen?

The answer to this question will vary from person to person. I think the best time to listen to these informative podcasts is while in commute to the office or to the store or wherever. The idea is to be in a situation where you don't have to use a lot of brain power, thus you can process what's being said better.  Through my personal experience, I've come to the conclusion that listening to podcasts while working is not very productive.  Your brain is compiling what's being said so that takes away from the your creative process.

Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Readers

An RSS Reader also known as "RSS Aggregator" is a tool used to collect and sort all your web site feeds into a single place. I'm using Google Reader. Once I'm able to have a single computer, or location, to work on I will probably look into getting a desktop app, but for now, since I'm always on the go - Google Reader works just fine.

The benefit of using an RSS reader is that you don't have to visit 10 or 20 web sites in order to get their latest content.  All their content is delivered to you.  So; find some sites that are consistently feeding their readers good, useful content and add their RSS feed to your reader.  Here are some sites that I read regularly:

• Atlanta Business Chronicle
• Creative Loafing Atlanta
• Digg (World & Business)
• Google News (Top Stories)
• The Motley Fool

Types of Feeds

There are roughly two types of feeds. RSS or ATOM. Since I'm not in a place to research this, I can say that there isn't a big difference between the two. By default I stick with RSS 2.x. If you really want the full understanding of the difference, you can always Wikipedia it.

When to Feed the Need?

Typically; you can read the feeds at any time during the day.  Some may constantly check their feeds for the up-to-the-minute content.  I typically check my feeds in the morning while drinking some coffee and then a couple times throughout the work day.  Again; the point of the RSS reader is for you to have the convenience of reading content when you're ready. So; figure out a best time to check your feeds.

Social Media

Boy, the word "social media" has been the buzz for the year 2009. It's taken on many different names, such as "new media", "social networking", frankly anything with "social" in front of it.  As social media grows, trying to fully realize its potential and firmly establish its identity across many platforms, it's resulted in good things for us. Social media is actually changing how people are delivering and receiving news. Blogs are putting traditional news papers out of business and threatening other paper-focused mediums.  In the world of media some folks no longer check out CNN for the late breaking-news. If you're following the right folks you can get world-wide news as its happening.

For instance, I'm primarily using Twitter and Identica. I have a Facebook account and various other accounts, but I can easily follow my Twitter feed on my mobile phone. I'm still looking for a good native Blackberry app for Identica.  Here are a couple of social media platforms to use to keep yourself up-to-date:

• FriendFeed
• Identica
• LinkedIn
• Mahalo
• Meetup
• Twitter

So; Have I Kept Up!?

So; at the end of the day, it's all about information being delivered to you in a way that you can take advantage of it.  With these three methods of "data collection", you shouldn't have a problem getting what you need. The trick to first filter the nonsense vs the credible/relative data and second what to do with it when you get it.  Unfortunetly; each person is different and you'll have to figure that one out on your own.  It'll take some time before you come up with a rock solid solution. Just keep an open mind about these "buzz" methods.  If I missed anything, please do not hesitate to comment it. I'd love to know what you all use.

This topic may have been talked to death already, but I accidentally learned something the other night and would like to share it.  There were two events being held and I could not attend any of them. I was a bit disgruntled and thought, "If I can't physically be there, maybe some social media freaks (likewise) would tweet the entire event minute-buy-minute." So; I searched for the two hash tags and while the events took I place, I noticed something happening to my feed...

"What was happening!?" you might ask?  What's the one thing all us micro-blogging users want - in regards to following other users? I'll give you a minute to figure it out... Ok; I'll tell - I noticed a pattern emerging as the feeds grew, the folks I monitored were like-minded individuals that were LOCAL!  "What does this mean? Stop baiting us!" Ok; I'll stop.

The two events were IgniteATL and Atlanta PHP Meetup.  While following the search for #igniteatl and #atlantaphp - I realized that I started interacting and thus following (being followed) by like-minded peers.  I could easily make a decision if this was someone I wanted to follow based on how they were interacting with others, what they said, etc.   It was very easy using TweetDeck's column structure. With their grouping option I could subscribe to someone and then put them in a group in a matter of seconds.

What About Hash Tags?

Well, to be honest - Identica (an open source micro-blogging platform) does this very well. It's all integrated into their basic service, but its unfortunate that there aren't a lot of good apps for it. Twitter has gone mainstream and basically took the sail out of their competitors.  I'm a FOSS (free and open source software) enthusiast, so I prefer the Laconica software, but doing business I need to be were everyone else is. Ok; back to HASH TAGS.  You can find like-minded folks to follow using Kevin Rose's WeFollow service, but then you have to go an research their previous posts, maybe their web sites, etc. It's a bit too much work and more importantly - they are probably in another country.

You can use sites like Meetup to find local groups and events. If it's specifically a social media event, you shouldn't have a problem following it live - there's guaranteed to be a few TwitterHeads annotating the event.  In the end - there's just something special about interacting with folks LIVE when they are at an event. It's exhilarating!

Not saying that I'm a Fanboy or anything of Jason and the things I learn on TWiST, but this episode was one of the best demonstration of salesmanship I've ever seen. After listening to this episode, I really understood just how much mental skill set a person needs in order to sell really well.  The new show segment "Jason's Shark Tank" is very exciting, the interview with Matt Mickiewicz (founder of SitePoint and 99designs) was inspirational, and the giveaways is just damn cool! This episode has changed my outlook on catching live podcasts. There's too much to lose out on.

Show Segments

I've enjoyed TWiST's segments in the past and I've been very jealous of the folks that call in, getting to ask a specific question about their start-up and get a real straight forward answer from two or more successful entrepreneurs. The latest show segment, "Jason's Shark Tank" would almost be considered a dream come true for start-ups.  Getting the opportunity to pitch your start-up not only to Jason and his guest, but it also exposes your pitch to the mammoth audience of his show.  You can't beat that! After you stumble through your 120 sec pitch (which Jason is more than gracious on) - he and his guest then constructively critiques your pitch.  WTF!? Where do you get an opportunity like that!?  Only on "This Week in Startups".  This blew my mind while I was listening.  Honest and constructive feedback.

And you'd think it would end there... no! If Jason or his guest believes in your start-up (as much as you do), they will invest - RIGHT ON THE SPOT! Matt had his checkbook ready and was already writing down numbers. So; to recap on the shark segment:

• You get 120 seconds to pitch your start-up to multiple successful entrepreneurs.
• They give you constructive feedback on how well your start-up idea is AND your presentation.
• If all goes well, you'll end up with someone investing into your business.
• If all goes great, you'll get additional investments from the thousands of people listening to the show!

TWiST has other segments to the show, such as the "Dead Pool". I find this segment very enlightening because Jason, his guests, and maybe the interns explain why a business failed.  Why do they share this with us? So; we don't fail!

Interview

I have been aware of SitePoint.com since I started web development, in fact my first technical book was that crappy 1st edition of "Build Your Own Database Driven Web Site Using PHP & MySQL."  At the time, I didn't know any better, so I thought it was the greatest book in the world.  I actually read it in its entirety.  Now that's something special because I hate to read.  Ha-ha; maybe I should really consider getting an Audible account. Anyway; I didn't know just how successful the site was; and I surely didn't know about Matt Mickiewicz. This guy is inspirational!  What other word can I use. He started out young (in high school!), he started building a web site to help him learn HTML. Even though he originally built the site for his own needs, because he also considered the community - he structured it to be a resource and not just personal notes. As he continued his efforts the site grew, he figured out how to get revenue from ad streams and he continues to be successful! Wow!

Giveaways

I can't say enough about how amazed I was with the salesmanship of Jason Calacanis. He helped out his phone guests with tips about their sales pitch and he's been offering deals, giveaways, and Mahalo shwag on the show left and right - as the opportunity presented itself. He really showed me how a sharp mind can create opportunities for that individual. So; with all that "opportunity" to get free things, it's convinced me to do my very best to catch his shows live. Even if I don't physically get an iPhone 3GS or a Mahalo kit, I do leave with more knowledge on how to successfully run my business. So; you can't lose!

There's a lot of other details that I'm missing, but this entry is getting way to long. His show is quite lengthy and a lot goes on during the show, but to those of us that are hungry for success - it's almost feels short!

What to Take Away From This Episode

First I'm going to rate this episode a nine out of ten (9/10).  I know what you're thinking, "If I talk so highly of it, why am I rating it only as a 9!?".  Call me what you want, but it doesn't get a 10/10 only because I wanted more! Two hours is NOT ENOUGH! I'm harsh, understood, but my rating system is also fictional - so there!

When the show was over, after all the excitement died down... here are five things I left with:

1. Be prepared for an "opportunity". Not just doing a sales pitch, but for anything related to your business. I'll have to say the dreaded word, but it means "planning."
2. In planning, think about your core vision of your start-up. Try and think of what outrageous question someone could ask you about it. The more you know about your industry, the need that you're trying to solve, the easier it will be to share that with other people.
3. Learn from the mistakes or pitfalls of others. The "Dead Pool" is no joke. We all fail at some point, but pick yourself back up and learn from it.
4. If you don't like to read, like me, get an audible account!
5. Learn to think quickly better assess a situation in order to squeeze an opportunity out of it!

Seriously; if you're an entrepreneur you have got to subscribe to "This Week in Startups".  Better yet, you need to catch the live shows (Fridays at 1:00PM PST on uStream.tv). The information shared within those two hours can change the course of your business to new heights!

I've been listening to Jason Calacanis' podcast titled "This Week in Startups" since episode eight or nine. In the micro-blogging-verse it's hashed #TWiST. At the time of writing this post they're up to 10 episodes and I'm in a mad dash to catch up. Like most other folks, trying out a new podcast, you'll listen to the latest episode and if it fancies you - you'll then start from the beginning and work your way up.

What's My Angle?

For some reason, I really like Jason's style of doing things. I don't know if its because he reminds me of myself or if I'm secretly envious of his successful status and how he runs things. Besides that the way he conducts the shows is exactly how I conduct my meetings (some times). To plainly put, he's all over the place.  Indeed his show has segments and bullet points, etc, but because of his passion for the content - whenever there is a moment to squeeze something in, he does.  And for that sole reason, I'm totally hooked to the show.

Because of the content: "start-ups", "venture capitalists", "angel investors", "CEOs", oh my - there are a lot of valuable information being spewed out of the mouths of the host and guests. It's almost like an adventure game, traveling through the wilderness, looking for gold nuggets and avoiding threats of immanent danger. To put it into perspective, listening to TWiST is  helping me see the possible dangers for my business, while making note the very useful and timely advise so freely given on the show.  It's invaluable what this show is doing for me.

So What Now Genius!?

So; with all that said, I'm going to do my part for the start-up community and compile the information shared on Jason's show and post them here.  Even though Jason's show is awesome, everything is in the podcast and not on the web site itself.  One of the challenges, and treats, is actually going through the shows and pulling out what was said and putting it together in a digestible format.

Why is This the Start of Something Big?

I thought I should explain the title of this post a bit. Posting TWiST's content here is NOT what I was referring to when I titled this "The Start of Something Big".  What that really means is, listening to TWiST has stirred up something inside of me that was smothered by my responsibilities of being a father of three little kids, a husband of five years, working a 7:30 to 4:00 job and boostrapping a web development company that I started in late 2001. Getting bombarded with useful business tips have turned on my creative switch and now my head is filled with ideas and concepts.  I have to jot them down in our business wiki just to free up some room in my head.  So; I'm killing a couple birds with a few stones... in the sense that doing this blog will get these business concepts out of my head onto a coherent medium, thus helping my business, your business, everyone... I'd like to know what you think.