Am I the Key to a Secret CIA Conspiracy?

This has to be an April Fool's Joke, but it got a chuckle nonetheless. It seems two of the companies I'm on the board of (PayPerPost & CallMiner) have a secret joint venture with the CIA to identify and undermine radical, dissident bloggers. Hey, I know some of those. Why didn't my entrepreneurs tell me so I could watch what I say here at FVB? Maybe I'm a spy and don't even realize it?

Even the Cloverfield Monster Does Endorsements

Maybe it's because I've seen the power of respectful, well-done product placements, but I noticed a few brands (when my eyes weren't shut) at my recent pre-screening of Cloverfield. Kudos to those marketers who managed to secure prime brand placement without hurting the story in the middle of a first-person war zone formerly known as Manhattan. Also, thanks for helping support such great entertainment!

The brands I noticed and when:
- Sephora: Rob leans against Sephora building with brand above his shoulder, just as his phone dies;
- Nokia: Rob cries it out on a subway bench with Nokia by his side;
- Aquafina: Rob pries Aquafina machine with crowbar as brand swings toward camera;
- Mountain Dew: this shot seemed the longest (maybe cuz I Do the Dew daily), behind/above Marlena as she tends to her wounds (was this the same machine Rob previously pried open?)
- PayPerPost: written with sharpie on Cloverfield Monster's forehead as Hud gets a close-up ;-)
- Slusho (if you count ARG IG brands): Jason's t-shirt at the party [above image credit: projectcloverfield.com]

I'm sure there were plenty more (I think Bonine was subliminal), but at least those above pulled off some monster product placements. If you saw others, please share what/when via comments...

IZEA: Sponsored Social Media and so much more...

Seeing your babies grow up is bittersweet. Watching my daughters scare others at our haunted house this Halloween, instead of being scared, was both fun and sad.

I feel that same conflict with PayPerPost's evolution to IZEA, being formally announced tomorrow. PPP has gone from being an unknown upstart in the summer of 2006, to the largest sponsored social media marketplace on the planet with over 80,000 bloggers and over 11,000 advertisers. Ted and his team have launched multiple innovations beyond PPP such as Blogger's Choice Awards and have acquired others such as Zookoda.

They disrupted the status quo with PPP and their next innovation (code named Argus) will have an even larger and lasting impact for social media publishers and advertisers. As such, the master brand of IZEA makes a ton of sense as the umbrella for multiple synergistic innovations. That doesn't mean the change doesn't prompt a bit of sadness for me. I think I'll be OK.

Hello IZEA and viva la revolucion!

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PayPerPost, Inc. Changes Corporate Name To IZEA™

To Support Expanding Suite of Social Media Marketing Solutions

Original Consumer Generated Advertising Network PayPerPost.com

To Continue as Part of Broader Portfolio

ORLANDO, FL – (November 1, 2007) – Social media marketing pioneer PayPerPost, Inc. today announced it is changing its corporate name to organize the multiple properties its has developed within the fast-changing world of social media. Effective immediately, the company will operate under the parent name of IZEA™ Inc., incorporating consumer generated advertising network PayPerPost.com and other Web sites currently operating under the PayPerPost, Inc. umbrella.

Founded in June 2006, IZEA has raised over $10 million in venture capital from top venture firms including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Village Ventures and Inflexion Partners. The company initially launched flagship service PayPerPost.com and has since developed a diverse portfolio of online properties that enable content creators and advertisers to mutually benefit from social media.

In addition to PayPerPost.com, IZEA owns and operates Zookoda.com, BloggersChoiceAwards.com, RockStartup.com, RSSBrief.com, URLBrief.com and BlogInSpace.com, among others.

The name change comes just days before the scheduled unveiling of IZEA's highly anticipated new service, codenamed Argus. An alpha version of the offering will be revealed on Nov. 10 at PostieCon, the company’s annual user conference. It will provide both bloggers and advertisers more visibility into social media and allow them to interact with each other and the public in more immediate, transparent and accountable ways. Access to the alpha version will be by invitation only through the end of 2007.

“Argus is the kind of breakthrough marketers and bloggers have both been asking for. It will have broader appeal and set new standards for scalability in social media marketing,” said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA Inc. “The combination of advanced reporting, open APIs, blog analytics, management tools and social networking features will be extremely attractive to marketers that want to actively engage in online conversations.”

The company is building on past success and looks to expand its core business value with the launch of Argus. “Our marketplace now includes more than 80,000 bloggers and 11,000 advertisers, making it the world’s largest consumer generated ad network,” said Murphy. “We believe Argus can leverage this growth to expand even further, and allow us to address our broader mission: to empower everyone to value and exchange content, creativity and influence.”

The PayPerPost.com sponsored content marketplace will continue operating as it does today. Over the coming months, IZEA will continue to improve the user experience through tighter integration between offerings. By the end of Q1 2008, users will be able to utilize a single sign-on for all IZEA properties. Profiles and data will be shared across IZEA sites, making it easier and faster for users to navigate across platforms.

“I am extremely excited about the future of our company,” said Murphy. “Our new approach will provide more value, innovation and support for our ever-expanding user community.”

About IZEA:

IZEA is a next-generation, Web-based social media marketing company. Comprised of properties including PayPerPost, Zookoda, Bloggers Choice Awards and RockStartup, IZEA aims to empower everyone to value and exchange content, creativity and influence. IZEA’s current flagship product is PayPerPost, the leading marketplace for Consumer Generated Advertising that connects advertisers and consumer content creators to deliver compelling marketing messages. IZEA is venture funded by Inflexion Partners, Village Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and DFJ Gotham. Advertisers, consumer content creators and partners are encouraged to join the social media revolution at www.izea.com.

####

Related posts:
http://www.simplekindoflife.com/2007/10/31/izeacom-the-future-of-payperpost-is-here/
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/11/01/payperpost-inc-changes-its-name-to-izea/
http://mashable.com/2007/10/31/payperpost-izea/
http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/payperpost-inc-parent-company-is-now-izea/
http://scobleizer.com/2007/10/31/payperpost-rebrands-and-goes-after-social-media-starfish-advertising/
http://www.midlifemusings.com/2007/10/31/payperpost-is-changing-the-face-of-the-internet-again/
http://www.jimkukral.com/payperpost-changes-its-name-to-izea/
http://www.techaddress.com/2007/10/31/payperpost-changes-name-to-izea-don%e2%80%99t-you-forget-it/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ppp_becomes_izea.php
http://bloggingcents.com/2007/10/31/izea-to-launch/
http://community.izea.com/blog/2007/10/change-is-in-th.html

Related images: izea

Blog Ethics, Bias and Disclosure for Online Communicators

I've been reading Dave Taylor's writing for the past year+ and he garnered plenty more fans before me. He's an accomplished entrepreneur, techie and writer. For the past week over at iAOCblog.com (International Association of Online Communicators) he's been covering the topics of bias, conflicts, disclosure and ethics. I match his school of thought that almost all blogging contains elements of bias. In fact, part of what separates blogging from other media is that biases often define the long-tail niche where a blogger builds his/her audience.

This foundation can be seen in a quote from the first post of his series, "Quick, now, are YOU biased?"

"I'm going to start this week out by proposing that everyone is biased, everyone will tend to make allowances for their friends' behavior while castigating the same from someone they don't know or from a social or racial group they dislike. Everyone will review a restaurant owned by their parents differently from one owned by the annoying woman down the block with the loud Mercedes, and everyone will be less likely to use an online service whose director of marketing is a former lover who left for the arms of another."

Dave followed that post with "How disclosing does disclosure need to be?", including perspective like:

"What concerns me is that if we go too far with disclaimers, it becomes very difficult to know where to draw the line, to figure out where you don't have to disclaim what you write. For example, I've been a cinemaphile for as long as I can remember, have watched thousands of movies and read at least fifty different books on film theory and interpretation. Along the way, I have found certain directors who I believe are brilliant (Lean, Hitchcock, Kubrick) and others that I think can't direct their way out of a paper bag (Lynch, Tarantino). Clearly, I'm biased and, heck, you probably don't agree with my bias. So should I disclaim my bias before I write about film, review a movie or even talk about an actor or production?"

His third post of the series, "Are bloggers EXPECTED to me more ethical than everyone else?", also echoed my acceptance that the 'sphere contains a diverse population of participants and motivations:

"I have had conversations with many bloggers who believe that blogging is apparently a higher calling, that to be a successful blogger you must be hyper-ethical, completely transparent and a model, upstanding citizen who eschews all aspects of capitalism. After all, doesn't information want to be free?....I don't agree with them. A blog is a tool that makes publishing more convenient and like any tool, it's up to individuals to make it work for their own needs and requirements. While I applaud those people who put in 50-hour weeks gratis because they believe in what they're writing about and they're passionate about sharing their view, I also applaud those bloggers who are experimenting and trying to figure out how to make blogging work for them financially as well as professionally."

Dave's closing post of the week, "Psstt... wanna buy a link from my blog, buddy?", got to the bottom of what he teased all week: whether bloggers should accept payment for their blogging efforts. He makes some pretty bold statements, including support for one of my portfolio companies, PayPerPost, but instead of just quoting him here, I'll let you enjoy his post in its entirety.

On almost every topic he covered, I wish he'd gone deeper. He is right for plenty of reasons that he didn't bother including. At the same time, I think most of his points have already been proven out as the real world joined the blog world. The 'sphere is as diverse as the world is big, and each blogger will succeed or fail based upon pleasing their audience, biases and all.

BTW: I'm biased in a variety of ways about Dave and this topic (see FVB's Disclosure Policy, http://www.disclosurepolicy.org/ and any number of related prior posts here), so consider me conflicted, opinionated and generally shaped by a world-view that people have the right to live by their own choices, preferably influenced by reason, not mobs.

Related images: dave taylor (biz), dave taylor (techie), dave taylor (mountain man), dave taylor (professional wrestler? OK, different guy, but hard to pass up)

BlogWorld & PostieCon: Will I see you there?

The last time a combo this good came along they named it PB&J. BlogWorld and PostieCon are just around the corner, taking over Vegas from Wednesday November 7th to late, late Saturday November 10th.

Just as Peanut Butter is the anchor of a great PB&J, chock full of goodness (and a few nuts); BlogWorld has a terrific lineup of sessions and speakers. To appreciate the breadth, there are 10+ tracks include Beginners, Advanced, Podcasting & New Media, Entrepreneurs, Monetization, Executives, Sports, Milblogging, Political, Special Interest and Pop Culture. To appreciate the depth, each track has 10+ panels -- including one on New Media Fundraising with me, Feld, and Arrington.

And, just as Jelly is the tangy, sweetness in a good PB&J, PostieCon layers on some great flavor with new media monetization talks by David Ponce, Michelle Madhok, Jim Kukral, Shirley Frazier, Sherry Heyl, Sean Jackson and others. There's even a session where the Fab 5 top earners of PayPerPost share their stories/secrets. The events culminate with the unveiling of PPP's Argus monster of a release (attendees get early-adopter keys) and the Blogger's Choice Awards Saturday night at Tao Las Vegas (invitation only). Rosie is the top overall BCA vote-getter so far, will Ross the Intern catch her as the final secret ballot votes are tallied? And don't forget FVB is nominated: vote FVB for Best Business Blog now!

If you're already planning to attend, please stop me to say Hi! If you haven't booked yet, get moving. There are still some great non-stop flights available (I just booked) if you can secure your spot at the conferences. If you attend just one blogging event this year, make it this one, er, two, plus the BCAs -- all in Vegas...

Related images: blogworld, postiecon, bloggers choice awards, argus, las vegas, payperpost, brad feld, mike arrington, david ponce, michelle madhok, jim kukral, shirley frazier, sherry heyl, rosie, ross the intern

blogorlando 2007: I hope I can sneak in...

OK, so after talking up blogorlando 2007 to every blogger (and some sponsors) I could find in the area, I find myself locked out of registration. My bad for waiting too long to make my attendance official. It's scheduled for this Thu-Sat, Sept. 27-29, at Rollins College (with bookend social events at Universal CityWalk and Disney/EPCOT). Well, I'm coming anyway and hope to just blend in like the zombie kid at a turtle-lovers convention.

I attended blogorlando 2006 and came away impressed by its "unconference" feel -- very free-wheeling and in-the-trenches informative. This year's schedule is even better with a keynote from Shel Israel and jam-packed session tracks for PR/Marketing, Media, Technical and Life/Local.

Kudos to blogorlando organizer Josh Hallett (Hyku) and I'm really pumped that one of my portfolio companies (PayPerPost) is sponsoring such a great event. If you already knew about and registered for blogorlando, I hope to see you there. If you're interested but not registered, maybe we can storm the gates together -- assuming there are no tazers around...

Related images: blogorlando, rollins college, shel israel, josh hallett, universal citywalk, disney epcot

GuessNow: Can Predictive Markets Be Fun?

I've always been intrigued by the potential of predictive markets: speculative markets created for the purpose of making predictions. That's why I was excited when Delray Beach, FL-based GuessNow contacted me about sponsoring an FVB review via PPP Direct. It was also timely because I'm following up my completion of Chris Anderson's The Long Tail, with James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds.

The broad idea behind predictive markets is that large populations of people, who stand to benefit from accurate predictions, can become an engine for predicting future events. If you read the wikipedia article I linked above, you'll find that there is some controversy around the accuracy of results and various approaches to received optimal results.

GuessNow.com has an interesting management team, with John Ferber leading the charge as CEO. John, with his brother Scott, previously founded Advertising.com before selling it to AOL in 2004. I like serial entrepreneurs. I like the connection of advertising minds to predictive markets, because I've seen too many companies pursue "cool ideas" like artificial intelligence, behavioral modelling or predictive markets with business models as a secondary concern. I also like that the site feels a bit more engaging/fun than you might expect from a predictive market.

Turning to the site itself, I thought John's incentive system was interesting. Instead of a pure stock market type of system with various prices for different outcomes, GN implemented a point system. Specifically, users can earn points for answering questions correctly (more points for correct, fewer points for incorrect), answering questions early (more points for early, fewer points for later), and avoiding group think (more points for correct answers going against the crowd). They also have a bonus point system for site participation and advertiser offers, but I don't entirely understand the "bonus" section of the site -- that section feels more like rewarding site behavior and CPA advertising than predictive.

Points are then redeemed for cash, according to a "point value" decided by the total Prize Pool for a month divided by the total number of points awarded in that month. For example, if 500,000 points are awarded in a month with a $5,000 Prize Pool, then each point is worth $.01. If you earned 1,000 points that month, then your points are worth $10.00. I believe a similar calculation happens for the Bonus Prize Pool and bonus points.

They have a good set of questions, including topic areas such as:

• Recently Added Questions
• Business & Finance
• People & Entertainment
• Sports
• US & World News
• Miss Internet Pageant 2007(?)
• Vida Latina

Some of the questions I've answered include:

• Why would you buy a hybrid car?
• Will Facebook do an IPO before Halloween?
• Will either Yahoo or Google acquire Facebook this year?
• Will there be a Microsoft announcement about the purchase of Yahoo by the end of this year?
• Will venture capitalists from the U.S. continue to encourage innovative entrepreneurs in India ?
• With the overwhelming popularity of blogs, YouTube, and interactive reality TV, do you feel that we are at the threshold of Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame"?

The model is pretty flexible. In addition to predictive questions, I also noticed trivia-type questions (e.g. "name the state that...") and survey-type questions (see hybrid car question above). It's not clear these are necessary to keep people engaged for predictions, but I can see them opening monetization options.

A few of my suggestions include:
1) I loved some of the higher level data concepts such as accuracy ratios, friction and confidence levels -- find ways to share that data and reward publicly on these;
2) I know the "Shocking New Video" ads are probably prompted/related to your Miss Internet Pageant 2007, but they could be a tad risque for the diverse demographic good predictions will require; and
3) I may have missed it, but I couldn't find where to compare past group predictions with past actual results -- that is the question everyone has about such markets and there has to be some data you can share, probably great linkbait.

And, lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention GN's points-based affiliate program and blog. I don't know GN's funding status, but this review has prompted me to dig a little deeper. Thanks for reaching out to me guys!

(sponsored post)

The PayPerPost Revolution Accelerates (yes, again)

This was a good week for PayPerPost, probably the biggest since we led their A round last October. Some of the highlights include:

• Launch of new PayPerPost.com
• Launch of PPP DIRECTory, promoting all of the bloggers interested in cutting their own sponsorship deals with PPP Direct