Vitoto Editing Features Launched

We just released an update to Vitoto which includes the ability to edit your videos, its bad ass. Check it out at Vitoto.com Or on the iTunes App Store. If you're digging into vitoto, you'll probably also enjoy Vitoto Officially Shutting Down.

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Idea - Thoughts to Extend the iPhones Battery Life

iPhone battery life is a huge problem that I hear people all around the world bitch about. Here are my ideas to solve it: 1\. Put a solar panel on the back of the phone. This will give you the ability to charge anywhere there is light. 2\. Implement kinetic and heat inductors. This will be the phone charges when it moves and when its in your pocket. 3\. Have lock screen access to turn off and on the biggest battery drainers. Including 3g/4g/LTE/WiFi. For another perspective on idea, read Start-Up Idea: TailSearch - Search for Retail Stores.

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The Future of Video Storage

Imagine free, unlimited, unmetered video storage service for all your video needs. A service where you could quickly upload, download and watch all your own private videos for free with no restriction on size, quality or content. And a service that was 100% redundant meaning that you could never lose your data, an important factor because there is no way to get back those home movies of little Timmy as a toddler if the house burns down. - For the father who has all those CDs he doesn’t know what to do with - The professional video editor who has hundreds of hard disks full of data from old projects - The local convenience store owner who has to erase his CCTV footage every month due to lack of space - All the way up to big corporations who might have thousands of cameras running at once. Is it really such an unrealistic service? YouTube already hosts hundreds of millions of videos for free, not to mention the plethora of other free video hosting sites out there. Dropbox is giving 10gb+ away for free to its users. The costs of data storage are reducing while the capacity is increasing all at an exponential rate. That being said, it’s still not cheap. Building a service like this would likely set you back in the hundreds of millions of dollars. So how could you afford to build such a service? Since the data is not for public viewing and you won’t have large amounts of traffic you can't sell advertising. The one asset you are building up is all the data you are storing. Data is information, if you can turn that information into knowledge, into usable data, you may be able to turn a profit from it. I could guess that most people reading this post probably have either a Google, iTunes or Facebook account. If you have any of these, you've probably accepted a privacy agreement that allows these companies to use all of your personal information. To analyse your browsing activities, monitor your interests, what you talk about, what you read and who your friends are. Many speculate these companies already sell your information to other corporations and even the government including intelligence divisions like the CIA and FBI. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with this. If you don't want your information shared, don't use the service. Nobody is forcing you to. So assuming you create a privacy policy drafted in a way that allows you to do analysis on the videos that you are storing for free, here are a few ways I think you could use that data. There is probably thousands more I haven't thought of. 1\. You could use the data from cameras in certain locations to collect and analyze data about the real world. For example how many cars drive down a road per month or how many people pass a shop front each day. You could even go deeper and use it to analyze demographics. How many men vs women vs children pass a particular shop each day. How many cars above $50,000 drive down this road each day etc... Many companies can use this kind of data. 2\. You could use it to find people around the world. Easy examples would be for agencies to use. Maybe to find a kidnapped child or a wanted terrorist. 3\. You could sell the data to universities for human behavioural analysis 4\. You could sell (some) footage to MTV/Funnies Home Videos - this may cause issues but I'm sure you would capture a bunch of hilarious shit. 5\. You could provide video data analysis for your individual clients as an upsell service. Companies who want to know the behaviours of their staff or customers in their stores. Of course all the above would be done by an autmated software product that was able to find results in near realtime. Outside of monetizing the actual data, you could also: 6\. Create a Freemium model where the higher users pay for more bandwidth 7\. Create a Freemium model where users can pay so that their data is kept private and cannot be used for analysis Many companies collect a large amount of data but don't monetize it correctly. This is a crying shame because in today's information age there are so many different ways to monetize data at generally little to no cost. If future is relevant to what you're working on, this is worth reading next: Video Failure and a New Future - Niche Site Duel 04.

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Outsourcing Revisited - What I've Learned Since 2010

\* caveat - this post is from the perspective of a small business owner who does not have full time managers and human resource specialists. Someone who doesn't have systems and processes in place to manage large collaborative teams on long term projects. This is for someone managing a small team with limited resources and need work done in the most efficient and effective manner possible. A while back a wrote a post called 4 Tips to Not Get Screwed on Elance which has gained some controversy and even some backlash from the Elance community, mostly from freelancers who wrote me up as some type of slave driver. Well, since that post more than 2 years ago, I have clocked up A LOT more experience with Elance, oDesk and a bunch of other outsourcing sites. I have had many full time, part-time and freelancer staff and have learned a bunch more since I wrote that post. First things first. I completely stand by everything I wrote in the first post, and think it is excellent advice to cover your own ass. I understand this might irritate some people, but the fact of the matter is those people probably haven't put up their own hard earned money onto a site only to had it flushed down the drain buy someone in another continent. Of course, I would prefer to be able to put up a nice fluffy ad, sign little hearts above my i's and frolic around a paddock while my work gets done, my business grows and my cash flow is controlled. Unfortunately I don't live in a fairy tale and shit happens. Even after I wrote that post, I have still had many disturbing experiences with outsourcing sites. Mostly from NOT following my own advice. I've had many delayed, disregarded, over priced and under delivered projects, again and again. In fact, I have come to the basic rule that 50% of all outsourcing hires are going to fail within the first week. Please read that stat again, because it’s RIDICULOUS compared to a normal business. Even guys I know who are based in the Philippines and have staff in house in their own office, think that a 66% stick rate after 1 week is doing well. With these kinds of figures as an employer, it only makes sense that you need to be much tighter in not only your hiring process, but you project schedules, time tracking and more. I am not running a start up in SF. I cant hire a few college grads, give them Mac Books and iPhones and expect them to sleep under their desk every night. Its hard enough getting virtual staff to show up everyday. After my additional experience with virtual staff, there are a number of things I have learned. I will go into screening these concepts in later posts, but here are my 2 biggest takeaways: **1\. Communication skills, Communication skills, Communication skills, Communication skills repeat etc..**. Communication skills are EVERYTHING when dealing with virtual staff. Since you have no way of directly managing them, if they are a poor communicator, chances are your project is going to fall through before it even starts. This should be your key screening metric during interviews, technical skills, processes and tasks can all be learned. But someone that doesn’t know how to do something, and never tells you that don’t know how to do it, is where everything falls down. I will do a whole post if not multiple posts on screening communication skills. **2\. Work Ethic / Current Situation / Motivation** Whatever you want to call it. We used to just call it "current situation" basically what it means is WHY does this person want this job? Do they NEED it? Are they EXCITED by the project? Will this be their primary focus? Do they already have multiple other clients and projects that are of higher commitment than your project? How much do those projects pay? What proximity and level of commitment will the worker commit to your project? These are all questions that need to be asked when making the hire. I have studied human resources and organisational structure and I completely understand this is not modern, traditional or textbook way of approaching, hiring or managing staff in a traditional business. But outsourced work is not traditional business. Ideally you want to create a collaborative culture or a fun working environment, but a REQUIREMENT is to get the job done in the most cost effective manner and thus the process becomes much more transactional. With all the above being said, that doesn’t mean once you hire someone who you work well with you can’t empower them. On the contrary you should, but just make sure you screen thoroughly before relaxing on management techniques. You can compare this approach with Blogworld 2010 #bwe - My Review for more on 2010.

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Cacoo - Cool Tool for Process Diagrams

So haven’t updated this blog much lately, went a bit crazy for a while last year but have been camping out in the Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo working since New Years. I’ve been working on a number of projects, but one of my main focuses has been on building systems and outsourcing a lot of my tasks. Try and streamline everything that is going on with my income businesses. I have been training my Virtual Assistants using a variety of tools. I have created a little training area using wordpress, uploaded videos and training documents etc, but they were still having trouble grasping certain tasks, it was at this point that I started looking for an easier way to map out the processes needed. I remember in university having to do process diagrams and thinking how silly they were, never again, these things are awesome, and an amazing tool for training virtual assistants (any staff really). The best tool I found do to this is Cacoo. It also allows for collaboration so multiple people can work on documents at the same time and you can see who is editing what and the history of changes to the diagram. Process documents are the easiest way to document a process (duh..) and Cacoo is the easiest way I have found to make, store, share and collaborate process diagrams. One more post that complements this topic is Cool Trick to Manage Too Many Open Tabs, especially around cool.

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Discovery vs Debate – A Tale of Two Conversationalists

Have you ever gotten into a discussion with someone and had it feel like a wonderful journey of discovery, where both of you were bouncing off each other, teaching, learning and debating yes; but growing together with the conversation? What about a discussion where right off the bat it gets straight into a heated debate, where one person is certain that the other is wrong and instead of tying to discover the truth, they are trying to force their opinion? Have you noticed that the same **people** initiate the same **type** of conversation over and over? I’m not saying this is a hard and fast rule. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from meeting thousands of people all around the world it’s that: # You can never be 100% when dealing with humans. That being said, there are patterns that form from interacting with enough people and this is one of those patters. Which type of person do you prefer to interact with? Which type of person are you? A useful follow-up on people is 99 Abstract Life Hacks - Make your Life Easier Today!.

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Travel and Me

One of the best things about my life recently has been the amount of travel I have been able to do. I love travel and am so grateful for all the places I have been and experiences I've had. Travel is amazing for so many reasons. It boosts confidence like nothing else, constantly facing the unknown makes you more comfortable in every situation. It makes you more social with people of all walks of life. It expands your knowledge in so many areas including culture, geography, history and language just to name a few. It makes you more interesting and gives you a holistic perspective of the world just to name a few. This has been my travel for the last year and a half: - Sydney, Australia - Dec 2009 - Bangkok, Thailand - Jan 2010 - Vientiane, Laos - Jan 2010 - Bangkok, Thailand - Feb 2010 - Vancouver, Canada - Feb 2010 - Manhattan, USA - Mar 2010 - Vancouver, Canada - Mar 2010 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - April 2010 - London, UK - April 2010 - Leeds, UK - April 2010 - Edinburgh, UK - April 2010 - Whitby, UK April 2010 - Budapest, Hungary, April 2010 - Dublin, Ireland - May 2010 - Budapest, Hungary - May 2010 - Lake Balaton, Hungary - June 2010 - Budapest, Hungary, June 2010 - Berlin, Germany - July 2010 - Dublin, Ireland - July 2010 - Barcelona, Spain - August 2010 - Ibiza, Spain - August 2010 - Barcelona, Spain - August 2010 - Vancouver, Canada - September 2010 - Las Vegas, USA - October 2010 - Vancouver, Canada - October 2010 - Las Vegas, USA - Jan 2011 - Vancouver, Canada - Jan 2011 - Tempe, USA - Feb 2011 - Las Vegas, USA - Mar 2011 - Tempe, USA - Mar 2011 - Lake Havasu, USA - Mar 2011 - Tempe, USA - Mar 2011 - Pittsburgh, USA - Mar 2011 - Fort Lauderdale, USA - Mar 2011 - Miami, USA - Mar 2011 - Tempe, USA - Mar 2011 - Los Angeles, USA - April 2011 - Current Location - Australia, April 2011 UPDATE - 25-Nov-2012 - Tempe, USA - Jul 2011 - Cabarete, Dominican Republic - Sep 2011 - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Jan 2012 - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Apr 2012 - Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic - Ju 2012 - Tempe, USA - Jul 2012 - San Francisco, USA - Jul 2012 - New York, USA - Aug 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand - Aug 2012 - Koh Samui, Thailand - Sep 2012 - Sydney, Australia - Oct, 2012 - San Francisco, USA - Oct 2012 - Tempe, USA - Nov 2012 - San Francisco, USA - Nov 2012 UPDATE - 4-April-2013 - Las Vegas, USA - Jan 2013 - Santa Cruz, USA - Feb 2013 - Los Angeles, USA - Feb 2013 - San Diego, USA - Feb 2013 - Tempe, USA - Feb 2013 - Pittsburgh, USA - Feb 2013 - Shanghai, China - Mar 2013 - Ningbo, China - Mar 2013 - Hong Kong, China - Mar 2013 - Macau, China - Mar 2013 - Los Angeles, USA - Mar 2013 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Mar 2013 Update - 28-April-2015 - Santiago, Chile - Mar 2014 - Uruguay - Apr 2014 - Chile - Apr - 2014 - New York - Sep 2014 - Boston - Sep 2014 - San Francisco - Feb 2015 For another perspective on travel, read 21 Things I LOVE About Travel.

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Clean your Inbox - The Ultimate Newsletter Filter

Do you find that your inbox is constantly clogged with marketing emails. Basically every website and marketer in the world uses email as a major form of advertising, and the more websites you sign up to, the more email you receive. I am all for receiving email marketing emails, heck I am an email marketer myself, but I like to read through the emails at my own leisure and not have them clogging my inbox each and every day. Here is a cool tip on how to clean up your inbox once and for all. I have only provided instructions for gmail but I know there are similar feature sets in all the major web mail platforms such as Yahoo and Hotmail. First thing you need to do is create a "filter", you can do this by clicking the small link to the right of your search bar in Gmail. In other mail platforms it may be called a "rule" or something similar. (click to enlarge) Next, add the text "unsubscribe" into the "Has the words" field. Since it is required by the CAN Spam laws to allow users to unsubscribe from newsletters, 80-90% of newsletters will contain this text. This is the easiest way to capture the majority of newsletters in one hit. (click to enlarge) On the final step, there are 3 options you need to modify. First, select the "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)" option, then select "Apply the Label" and select Newsletter (or something similar). If you have not yet created a newsletter label, select "Add New" and create it. And finally select the "Also apply filter to X number of conversations below". (click to enlarge) And you're done. Now you should have a folder on the left with the majority of your newsletter emails. Just click it to view those whenever you feel like it. The great thing about this rule, is that it will capture the majority of new newsletters too. But remember, if you sign up for a website of some sort and are waiting for a "confirmation" or "activation" email to come through, it might be in your newsletter folder. Same with lost password email etc.. Basically any email that comes from a website of any sort. A useful follow-up on ultimate is Ultimate Youtube Video Ranking Guide.

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The Death of Broadcast Advertising...

It has been a topic of discussion for some time now that broadcast advertising has been losing its effectiveness. I mean seriously, when was the last time you saw a billboard on the side of the road, picked up a phone and called the number displayed? Maybe recently, but it was probably a fluke. Broadcast advertising is basically the same as spam - untargeted advertising to the masses. Not that spam doesn’t work, it does. But it is not the most effective method of advertising. Examples of broadcast advertising include: - TV - Radio - Newspaper - Billboards - Cold Calling - Junk mail - Etc... These methods, while targeted to a small level (like you know that mostly females watch The Bachelor so you advertise female oriented products during the airing of that show), in modern age of today, you can do so much better. With the technology and data that exists today, it is much easier to find, track and target your audience down to an almost exact science. Here are some **targeted advertising** options to consider: **Search Advertising** I’m sure most of you know what search advertising, most people in the world have probably clicked on a Google search advertisement at some point in their lives. But you know why you clicked on it? Because you were searching for it, it works. **Facebook Advertising** Most people tell Facebook what their likes and interest are. So target people who are interested in what you have to offer... **Sponsored Emails** There are email newsletters in EVERY single market in the world. Instead of broadcasting to your general demographic, why not purchase an advertisement on an email list from people who have already indicated they are interested in what you have to offer? **Retargeting** Retargeting or behavioural retargeting is genius. You may have seen this happen to you already, but basically if you visit a site of a certain type (say a stock trading website) you can then follow that same customer across different sites showing them the same advertisement until eventually they buy. Needless to say, there are many other methods of targeted advertising that all work very well. And a good combination of broadcast and targeted advertising can work wonders too (think broadcast advertising to determine your target market, then retargeting that customer until they buy). But if you find yourself stuck in the old school mentality of broadcast advertising only, you need to get with the times... Related reading on death: Long SaaS Ramp of Death.

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Just say YES! And a Tattoo!

For the last year or so I have been trying to live my life much like the Yes Man (you know that good book by that guy and the crappy movie with Jim Carrey). It’s amazing what can happen in your life if you just say yes. There are a whole bunch of quotes I could pull to this argument and I have talked about the importance of decision making in the past. Men (and women) should make decisions and that decision should be yes – most of the time anyway. And once you say yes, you need to DO IT, and DO IT GOOD! Take my last 2 years for example. I made the decision to quit my job and travel. I then made a decision to make money while I travel. I travelled all over the world (South East Asia, Europe and North America) while making money and having all sorts of crazy experiences which I loved. While I was in Canada, I made a decision to enter the Shoemoney Contest which I won controversially and lead me to Vegas. In Vegas I met Adolfo Salazar who I now work for. I met Shoemoney and DK who are great guys. I moved to Tempe, Arizona to work with Adolfo for a couple of months, I then plan to spend Summer in Costa Rica. This is life in Tempe: In March I am going to Vegas for Lead Con, Austin for SXSW, Lake Havasu for Spring Break and Miami for Ultra Music Festival. While I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t decide to say yes, I also wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have support and help of others. Such as my uncle in Vancouver, Adolfo and Jeremy Schoemaker. Humans are social creatures and we progress much faster when we work together (something many internet marketers don’t embrace). Relationships are everything. Relationships are created through commonalities and shared experiences and are maintained through loyalty and trust. And because I promised to get a Shoemoney tattoo if I won the contest AND the black jack hand here it is.... Now that’s Abstract Living... And thanks again Jeremy, my life has changed directions (once more) thanks to you. Related reading on people: Networking Awesomely Review.

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How I Created an Info Product

I just did a guest post on how I created an info product on Dr David Klein's (DK) blog. DK is one of the best known internet marketers marketers out there and is a regular at all the industry events. I met him at ASW and have been working with him since. Check out the post I did by clicking here. Related reading on product: Product Idea: Hairdresser Poncho with a Clear Window for Phone/Magazines.

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Interview with E-Commerce Store Owner - Padma Pandya

I posed an interview that I did with Padma Pandya from GreenDoggieBags.com on Eshopwiz. Click Here to Check it Out A useful follow-up on business is Start-Up Idea: TailSearch - Search for Retail Stores.

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About Abstract Living

Thoughts on building startups, scaling businesses, productivity, travel, and living intentionally.

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