Archive for the ‘Youkipedia’ Category

Redefine Change - Citizen Action Committee

November 12, 2008

It’s no secret that this election season piqued my interest. I’ve had some great discussions with people and learned a lot. As I’ve taken the last month to contemplate how to move forward in light of a desire to shape a better future for my children, one thing has become very clear.

No lasting good can come from zoning out for 3 years and 6 months, then slowly building oneself into an emotional and polarized frenzy for the six months leading up to our Presidential elections.

Most of us have been guilty of this. I know I have. And I think that’s the way our elected officials want it. Because they know that that the more we zone out, the less they will be held accountable for their votes, decisions and actions. From the looks of it, there must have been a lot of zoning out going on over the last decade or so. At least with my generation.

But not anymore. I’ve decided, for better or for worse, to remain steadily engaged in our political system even after all of the election hoopla has disipated. And I’m hoping you will too.

I’ve created an organization called Redefine Change to focus my efforts. I’m referring to it NOT as a political action committe, but rather, a Citizen Action Committee. Because I’m not really interested in becoming a political or party hack. I’m only interested in becoming a better citizen. If I can encourage a few others to do so in the process then I’ll consider that a success.

All of the content is free, but there are two fund-raising arms. The first is an annual membership which costs $17.76 per year (cute I know, but I can’t take credit for the idea. I swiped it from Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic where tickets were sold for the same price.) As an annual member you can post comments, discuss issues with other members, receive email alerts, discounts on educational materials and any other features that come about. The second is a one-time donate feature. This is for people who want to give more than the annual membership fee. The donations are NOT tax-deductible, so don’t give unless you want to get involved.

Whether you choose to simply stay abreast of the content or become a member and get more involved, I simply hope that you will consider, with some level of seriousness, the importance of remaining steadily engaged in our political system. Who knows, if enough of us stop zoning out, we may wake up one day and realize that the better future we envision for our kids is actually a reality.

Thanks and God bless,

Brandon

PS - the “Issues Matrix” made my brain hurt for several days on end. I hope the outcome makes sense to everyone!

ClickBricks featured on Fast Company

September 9, 2008

If you’ve ever tried to start a company you know how exhausting it can be. I remember someone advising me to “recognize accomplishments regardless of how big or small” for they can encourage you to keep going. This is one such “accomplishment”, if you will, that I’m happy to recognize. You can read the article here.

Adventures Assembled

August 26, 2008

Instead of ambiguously linking to the philosophy behind the Adventures (i.e. the things I refuse to refer to as businesses, products, etc) on the Youkipedia site, I took a few minutes today to add the list of current Adventures on this site. You can view them by clicking on “Adventures” above or by clicking here. Cheers!

Hold the Press!

August 22, 2008

Ok, well not really. But I did finally get around to making the page titles for companies on ClickBricks more SEO friendly. Next up are cleaner URL’s and several other “small” improvements. Not sure who said “God is in the details” - anyone know? Don’t know how true that is, and I doubt anyone will find God in ClickBricks, but you should be able to find a better website after I’m done with several days of tweaking a bunch of little things. I double posted this at the ClickBricks blog so don’t be alarmed if you see a trackback in one of the comments sections.

You can see a preview of my nifty handy work (not to mention my mad Photoshop skills) below or see the real thing by clicking here.

ClickBricks now has SEO friendly page titles - woo hoo! URL's are next.

Calling All Disgruntled Yellow Page Salesmen, Ad Executives and Media Buyers!

August 18, 2008

If you don’t like your job I’d love to talk to you about doing sales for ClickBricks. The Advisory Board and I have structured various initial investment/% franchise fee models depending on the size of your city/region as well as the size of your initial investment. In essence, you would be utilizing your experience and skills but in a model that gives you the majority of the residual income you close through your selling efforts. If you are interested, please feel free to leave a comment or email me directly at brandonmuth [at] gmail [dot] com.

Web 2.6853 Update

August 11, 2008

A few days ago I mentioned a “disruptive web model” that I was working out. Judging by the emails I’ve been getting, lots of people want to know. So without, further adieu, here it is. I look forward to the ensuing ruckus, not least of which, is becoming an increasingly legitimate competitor to the huge internet monopolies that are piling up before our very eyes. Cheers!

How to Survive Outside of Silicon Valley - By One Who Has (Insert “sort of” or “barely”)

August 4, 2008

The Future of Web Apps annual conference is being held in London this year between October 8-10, 2008. Now, unlike some in the internet industry, I don’t drool over these sessions nor the speakers. However, this year a particular session caught my eye. It is entitled, “How to survive outside of Silicon Valley.” I’m not sure what kind of awesome advice they will have, but it got me thinking about how I’ve survived outside of Silicon Valley, namely, in Albuquerque, and now in Tampa. Some thoughts:

1. Commit to building a sustainable, family-owned business.

2. Commit to funding it with hard work and savings (if necessary).

3. Work long hours.

4. Learn how to use the interweb. Learn more. Repeat.

5. Develop and evolve your business model.

6. Work more long hours.

7. Depend on family and friends for advice.

8. Don’t be afraid of failing. Love what you do, embrace your ideas and go full steam ahead.

If I just saved you airfare to London AND a conference registration fee, feel free to donate a portion of your savings to me. Afterall, my “hard work and savings” pockets are not nearly as deep as fat VC ones. Come to think of it, at $1362.62 per head (that doesn’t even include airfare!), I think I may start a yearly conference. The decision to do so would fall into #5 from above.

I can see it now…The Future of Poorly Funded and Shoestringed Web Apps. Do it the Brandon Muth way!!! Because it’s AAAWWWESSOOOOOME!!!

Hahaha, ok, I’m a dork. I’m done now. Bye.

Network Solutions Features ClickBricks

August 3, 2008

I was stoked when Connie Bensen, Community Manager at Network Solutions, contacted me a week ago to ask if I’d be interested in doing an interview about ClickBricks. Connie and I were able to connect last week and I had a great chat with her. She notified me that she posted the article/interview on Network Solutions blog, Solutions are Power, on Friday. Thanks Connie and here’s to small businesses thriving!

Modern Olive - Jobs. Christians. Community. Charity.

August 1, 2008

My hypothesis: take a common everyday thing that Christians spend a lot of money on (in this case online job postings), capture that revenue and redirect it to charity. Oh, and involve the church in the process. Will it work? I have no idea. But I just had to try. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Note: I’ve been contemplating different ways to use my design and web knowledge to catalyze the spread of “pure and undefiled” religion so there may be more of these ideas introduced in the future.

Bring It On Yellow Pages

June 27, 2008

When Henry Ford launched the Model T there was the railroad. When Sam Walton launched Wal-Mart there was K-Mart and its blinking blue light. When Edison invented the light bulb there was, well, I guess a bunch of messy candles and smoky kerosene lamps. The point I’m trying to make is great ideas often start as really big underdogs in the face of current behemoths.

And so it is with ClickBricks. (Haha, ok so I feel a little silly for equating it with the above examples, but you get the point.) I’ve wanted to try to compete with blow Yellow Pages out of the water for 3 years and the time has finally come to fire my first (deliberate) shot. Hopefully, with much more blood (ok not literally), sweat and tears, this little pea shooter will prove to be a worthwhile business endeavor and allow me to recoup the time, energy, legal fees, programming fees, emotional strain and brain cell consumption that has gone into it and ultimately provide the unique excitement, satisfaction and societal benefit that only entrepreneurial adventures can bring.

In the words of Tiger Woods (sort of) “I feel good, the site looks good, I like my chances.” (If you know where that comes from I’ll give you a cookie.)

Thanks to (in no particular order) Mike Skaggs - Economic Development Director for the State of Nevada, Doug Thomas - Assistant Dean at Anderson School of Management and Tom Carroll - president and founder of Carroll Strategies for sitting on the Advisory Board. Your input has been valuable thus far and I look forward to your continued involvement.

And if you know business owners that advertise online be sure to tell them about ClickBricks - I’d greatly appreciate it!