Now, imagine engaging in a breezy banter with your buddies in a TikTok audio-chat room when one of them suddenly shares a hilarious TikTok video! And BOOM! The chat-room transforms into a joyous cacophony of cackles and snappy remarks.

Sounds fun, right? Well, I saw a screenshot of an upcoming TikTok feature that hinted at similar possibilities.

As the chatter around this development gathered momentum, renowned blogger Matt Navarra even retweeted the screenshot showcasing the sneak-peek into TikTok's live audio realm, added a dash of credence. So, folks, the stage seems set for the saga of TikTok's live audio ambition to unfold.

But where does that leave our good ol' Clubhouse – the pioneer platform that got us hooked on to the magic of live social audio? Quite frankly, Clubhouse has been doing a commendable job, maintaining its appeal (at least to me, lol) even while shifting gears from a broadcast model to a more intimate friends-community vibe. But as TikTok strides into this sphere, brandishing its massive user base and killer algorithm, one does wonder about Clubhouse's future.

See, here's the thing: both Clubhouse and TikTok ARE tapping into the potent appeal of human voice in their unique styles. But Clubhouse’s vibe is purely audio-centric. TikTok, on the other hand, presents a potential cocktail of voice and video that could be a game-changer. It's like mixing an age-old offline experience with an online one and coming up with some engaging social concoction. Can't help but speculate, can we?

All said and done, we could be standing at the precipice of a fresh chapter in digital social interaction (I’d love that — I’m so over text-based communications). Sure, Clubhouse hit the right notes with its pioneering venture, but TikTok seems poised to bring a new melody to the world of live audio chat. As this narrative evolves, we might even see the existing platforms push their boundaries in more ways than one.

Put simply, picture a possibility where this ‘Chinese social media dragon’ roots itself firmly in the live audio chat turf, Clubhouse furthers its introspective shift, and amid these sweeping changes, we stumble into an exciting juncture of digital communication landscape.

Hold onto your seats, folks, because this ride promises to be an eventful one! So whether you're raring to gab away in TikTok's live audio chats or you’re just content chilling in Clubhouse, remember - live audio is here to stay and surprise. And between TikTok's titanic entry and Clubhouse's course correction, one thing's for sure — the next chapter in the evolutionary tale of digital audio communication is just around the corner.

Trust me, you wouldn't want to hit snooze on this one. 😉

If you’re looking for the potential feature breakdown of TikTok’s new live audio chat, check out my friend Anne Carney’s Substack.

As we delve deeper into the age of AI, its implications on industries like public relations, or PR, become more and more apparent. We now face the crucial question: will PR survive the incoming wave of AI technology? The answer is not as clear cut as one would think, and that’s probably not even the right thing to ask. Instead, it is much more likely that AI has the potential to transform the PR industry rather than eliminate it entirely.

By understanding how to incorporate AI technologies into PR practices, it becomes evident that the two can complement and even enhance one other. Instead of rendering PR professionals obsolete, AI tools can free up their time to focus on more strategic and qualitative aspects of their work.

Take ChatGPT, for example. AI-driven applications like ChatGPT enable PR consultants to craft effective and precise inputs for their press releases. While not necessarily creating an entire press release on its own, ChatGPT can serve as a starting point for PR professionals to focus on adding creativity, depth, and personalization to their narratives. At the very least, it can allow PR pros to iterate and workshop language more quickly.

In addition to that, the time saved from drafting boilerplate language can now be utilized to develop compelling pitches and carefully curated media lists, thereby increasing the chances of press coverage. To stay competitive, PR agencies must embrace AI and learn how to integrate these tools into their workflow effectively. 

However, the integration and complementation of AI and PR can go both ways. AI can also benefit from PR by garnering public support and generating awareness. As AI becomes more ingrained in everyday life, PR professionals can play a critical role in shaping perceptions and ensuring that the conversation around AI remains balanced and informed. It will be helpful for the public to see industries where PR pros are thriving by using AI tools (similar to how Microsoft Excel freed up accountants to do other tasks) and not seeing their jobs threatened by them.

For PR agencies to not only survive but thrive in this changing landscape, it's vital that they maintain their ability to create value for their clients. With AI taking over repetitive tasks and automating processes, PR professionals should focus on strategic thinking and relationship building. Clients hire PR professionals for their expertise and judgment, not their ability to complete mundane tasks. Leveraging AI for the latter can free up time for the former.

Below are a few tips for PR agencies looking to adapt to the age of AI:

1. Embrace and adopt AI technologies: Be proactive in learning how AI can enhance your PR strategies and practices. Familiarize yourself with AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT and stay updated on advancements in AI that can benefit your industry.

2. Upskill and adapt: PR professionals must hone their skills in areas that are less susceptible to automation. This includes strategic thinking, creativity, storytelling, and relationship management. By elevating their expertise in these areas, PR professionals can continue to provide value that AI cannot replicate.

3. Collaborate with AI developers: Establish partnerships with AI experts and developers to stay ahead of the curve. By working together, both parties can benefit from combined strengths – AI providing efficiency and data-driven insights while PR professionals contribute their industry knowledge and communication skills.

4. Focus on client relationships: Cultivate strong, lasting relationships with clients by providing them with personalized, data-driven insights and strategies. PR agencies should work closely with clients to understand their communication goals, corporate values, and target audience. This knowledge can help PR professionals tailor their services (and tools) to meet clients' unique needs better.

5. Highlight the human touch: Never underestimate the power of emotions and empathy in the PR industry. While AI tools can assist in many tasks, they still lack the human touch when it comes to understanding and connecting with people on an emotional level. PR professionals can leverage their innate ability to empathize and build connections—as well as existing relationships and natural storytelling abilities—to create compelling narratives that resonate with their audience.

In conclusion, while the integration of AI into the PR industry is inevitable, it does not have to lead to the death of the profession. Instead, it can pave the way for a more efficient, collaborative, and future-forward PR landscape. As long as PR professionals recognize the potential of AI to complement their skill sets and adapt accordingly, the industry is poised not only to survive but thrive in the coming wave of AI technologies. By seizing opportunities and embracing the power of AI, PR agencies can continue to provide value to their clients and impact the world of communications as we know it.

If you’re looking for a PR agency that gets AI and where tech is headed. Look no further, reach out!

I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on the TECHxploration podcast with host, Jaime (“Jemmy”) Legagneur. We chatted about how I got started with AI, how I’ve progressed with it over the last six months, and where I think it’s all heading.

My story isn’t unique. AI offers us super powers and it’s our job to take the opportunity to run with them. This technology is potentially world changing, in the same way the internet has been.

Anyway, it’s a good (fun) listen. I hope you enjoy!

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Social media is currently in a state of flux. We have Twitter competitors popping up to fill a certain billionaire-created void, including Mastodon, T2, and Bluesky—and we have Facebook struggling to find its new direction in this weird world of social + AI + Metaverse. Now more than ever during this transitional time, it's essential for us to adapt and develop strategies to build out our social graphs on other networks smartly and effectively. As many of us migrate to these other platforms, having an early, successful strategy could pay exponential dividends sooner than later.

Let’s explore how to build and grow your social graph on Bluesky. You have to be willing to define your intentions, be flexible, engage with the right people, and create a balanced post mix, to successfully navigate any new social landscape. 

1. Define your intentions

Before diving into the crazy world that is Bluesky, it's crucial to establish your intentions for the new social network. Are you looking to build a community, grow an audience, make friends, or a combination of these objectives? Your answer will significantly impact the strategy you implement to grow your account.

For community-building, focus on creating and participating in groups or threads centered around shared interests. Engage in conversations, share relevant content/information, and collaborate on projects to foster strong connections with like-minded individuals. Another thing I like to do is find the builders on any new platform and ingrain myself into that community. I’ll offer up feedback, ideas, and bug reports as a way to be helpful and build relationships. Builders are the lifeblood of any new platform, don’t forget it! 

To grow an audience, create and share quality posts that resonate with the people you’re looking to connect to. Utilize mentions, fun chatbots, and other tools to increase visibility, and engage with people who show interest in you and your content. When it comes to when and how to respond to people—the advice I live by is the following: if it feels like a forced engagement/response – don’t do it. Simple, but it works on social media platforms just as well as it does in real life.  

If your goal is to make friends, prioritize one-on-one conversations and genuine interactions. Share personal stories, experiences, and interests to connect with people on a deeper level.

2. Stay flexible and adapt

When navigating a new social network, it's important to remain flexible and willing to adjust your strategy in real-time as the platform evolves. This includes:

Following people: be open to exploring different types of people and content; don't limit yourself to a specific niche or demographic. This is especially important in the earliest days on a new network. I’m currently spending a lot of time looking for new people to follow. Discovery on new platforms is usually a bit difficult, this is also true of Bluesky, but it is possible to find new people posting good stuff. I’ve had luck combing through threads, reading replies, and looking for funny or insightful posts, which has guided me toward people to follow. 

Content sharing: experiment with various formats and topics to discover what resonates best with your audience and the platform's culture. This can absolutely change over time, so always be on the lookout for new trends. 

Improve your following strategy: learn from your interactions and adjust your following criteria based on engagement and relevance. See who’s already engaging with your posts and connect with them too. Plus, typically in the earliest days of a new social network, people are more liberal with who they follow. This means you have the opportunity to get on people’s radar you might not otherwise have had the chance to. 

3. Engage with active users

To grow your social graph, focus on engaging with people who are actively participating and posting on the network. Here are some tips to help you find and connect with these individuals:

Look for people with shared interests: follow and engage with people who share your passions and can contribute to meaningful conversations. These are your people! Build relationships with them through conversations, memes, and jokes. 

Prioritize active users: avoid following users who are inactive or show no signs of life. Instead, focus on users who are currently contributing to the network's growth and vibrancy.

Optimize your bio: craft a compelling bio that resonates with your target audience and highlights your shared interests. You want to immediately attract like-minded people without taking yourself too seriously. My current bio on Bluesky reads:

🤪 the best laugh on the internet (hear it on skyspaces.net)

🚀 3x founder, early adopter

🔗 www.cackles.xyz

4. Striking a content balance

To maximize your efforts, it's essential to strike the right balance between fun, meme-type posts and value-add content, especially since right now, more serious / value-add posts don’t seem to perform as well on Bluesky. Here are some strategies to help you achieve this mix:

Depending on your initial goals, it may not be a bad idea to plan a content calendar: while you can’t currently schedule any posts on Bluesky, having an outline of sorts highlighting the types of posts you want to make is always helpful. 

Monitor engagement metrics: track your follower’s response to different types of content and adjust your strategy accordingly. If meme posts receive high engagement, consider finding a way to organically incorporate more of them into your content mix. 

Share user-generated content: I share a lot of posts on Bluesky by other people that I find interesting. I think it’s good to show support by sharing content created by others. It can showcase a diverse range of perspectives and ideas while maintaining a balance between fun and valuable posts. It’s also just good karma! 

Conclusion

Building a social graph on a new network like Bluesky requires intention, flexibility, and a keen understanding of platform dynamics. By defining your goals, engaging with the right people, and striking a balance between entertaining and informative content, you can successfully navigate and grow within this new social space. Be prepared to adapt as the network evolves, and you'll be well on your way to building a thriving social graph on Bluesky (and elsewhere).

If you’re looking to work with a PR agency built by founders that gets social, AI, memes, web3, and more… what are you waiting for? Reach out!

In a world where meme culture has taken over both online and offline spaces, being able to generate relevant and timely memes is a skill worth cultivating. And no joke, it can also help your career.

Every day, millions of memes are created and shared across social media platforms, fueling conversations, providing entertainment, and even shaping public opinion. In this blog post, I'll delve into why it's essential to regularly practice and flex your "meme muscle" and how it can benefit you personally and professionally.

Meme culture has become an integral part of our digital lives. According to Backlinko, a site dedicated to helping webmasters with SEO, millions of memes are shared on Reddit alone every year. Memes like "Distracted Boyfriend," "Mocking SpongeBob," and "Two Buttons" have transcended their online origins, making their way into mainstream conversations and even news articles.

Just like any other skill, meme creation requires consistency and practice. The more you create memes, the easier it becomes – much like lifting weights. There was a period of time last year where I challenged myself to create at least one new meme every day. It wasn’t always easy, but I managed to do this for more than 30 days in a row. By regularly flexing your "meme muscle," you'll be prepared to capitalize on timely opportunities and stay ahead of the curve in this fast-paced digital world.

One of the best ways to practice meme creation is by using apps and tools designed to make the process easier. For example, Rememe is an app that streamlines meme creation, allowing users to quickly generate and share memes using a variety of templates and images. By taking advantage of these resources, you can hone your meme-making abilities and ensure you're ready to seize the moment when inspiration strikes.

Moreover, regularly creating memes can boost your overall creativity. I’ve even found that engaging in creative activities, like meme creation, can enhance cognitive flexibility, problem-solving abilities, and originality. By regularly flexing your "meme muscle," you're not only becoming a better memer, but you're also enhancing your creative prowess in other aspects of your life.

From a professional standpoint, incorporating memes into public relations (PR) and marketing strategies has become increasingly popular. Memes are an effective way to engage audiences, humanize brands, and tap into current cultural conversations. For example, Wendy's has successfully used memes and humorous tweets to connect with their audience, making their social media presence one of the most popular among fast-food chains. Bringing memes into the mix with my clients has been very positive as well, especially in web3 and AI. 

By incorporating memes into their growth and community strategies, companies can:

Increase brand visibility: Memes are highly shareable, and when done well, they can quickly go viral, spreading brand awareness far and wide.

Foster engagement: Memes are a fun and relatable way to engage with your audience, encouraging comments, shares, and reactions.

Demonstrate cultural relevance: By creating memes that reference current events or trends, companies can show that they are in tune with their audience's interests and the cultural zeitgeist.

Regularly practicing and flexing your "meme muscle" is essential for anyone looking to capitalize on the power of meme culture. By honing your meme-making skills, you'll be better equipped to seize timely opportunities, enhance your overall creativity, and even leverage the power of memes in your professional life. 

Go ahead, embrace your inner memer, and start flexing that meme muscle today! If you’re looking for a PR/strategy agency that gets memes and the internet, don’t hesitate to reach out! 

This article highlights the five major differences between traditional PR initiatives and community communications, providing insights on how businesses can optimize their outreach strategies.

Goals and objectives

Traditional PR: PR professionals focus on managing a company's image and reputation, typically via media relations and publicity efforts. This can include press releases, pitching reporters, media events, op-ed articles and social media strategy. The primary goal of traditional PR is to generate positive media coverage and enhance the company's credibility and showcase it to the highest value audiences: those with potential customers.

Community communications: This approach centers around building a strong relationship with a company's community, such as customers, partners, and stakeholders. Here, the emphasis is on creating trust, loyalty, and engagement through open, transparent communication. Startups should prioritize community communications to establish a solid foundation with their target audience before scaling their PR efforts. Think of it this way: you speak to your family in a different way than you speak to the outside world, but you would never want your family to be caught off guard with anything you say to external audiences.

Channels and platforms

Traditional PR: Conventional PR initiatives rely heavily on mass media channels such as digital and print newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio for distribution. These channels are effective for reaching broad audiences and convey a certain level of credibility—a Wall Street Journal mention of a company certainly makes us all think it’s more legitimate—but they can be expensive and may not always be the most cost-effective (or even effective) approach, especially if it’s not properly targeted. Good PR firms focus on getting coverage in the most important and relevant publications for the client’s particular audience and community, not necessarily the biggest or fanciest names.

Community communications: This method utilizes digital platforms like social media, blogs, and forums, allowing for more direct and personalized communication. Startups should leverage these platforms to connect with their community, gather feedback, and offer support, ultimately fostering brand loyalty and advocacy.

Messaging and tone

Traditional PR: Traditional PR messaging is generally more formal and polished, aiming to present a professional, sophisticated image to the public. This approach is useful when targeting traditional media outlets and maintaining a consistent brand voice, where editors with more traditional tastes still make a lot of decisions.

Community communications: In contrast, community communications often adopt a more authentic and conversational tone, encouraging open dialogue and relationship building. Startups should strive for transparency, addressing challenges and acknowledging feedback to demonstrate their commitment to the community. I can’t stress enough how important it is to humanize your brand. When community members feel like actual stakeholders, they become even more brand loyal and everyone wins. 

Measuring success

Traditional PR: Success in traditional PR is typically measured by media placements, reach, and advertising value equivalency (AVE). These metrics can help quantify the impact of PR initiatives, though they may not always accurately reflect the depth of engagement or long-term relationship building, and they often have little to nothing to do with true return on investment (ROI). In fact, some of the highest ROI PR usually does not come from the fanciest publications, but through tactics like a mention in a smart industry newsletter that ends up in the inbox of a potential trajectory-changing customer or investor. 

Community communications: Metrics such as engagement rate, sentiment analysis, and customer retention provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of community-focused communications. Startups should pay close attention to these metrics to evaluate their efforts and make data-driven decisions.

Adaptability and responsiveness

Traditional PR: Traditional PR initiatives often follow a predetermined plan, making it challenging to pivot quickly in response to changing circumstances or feedback. While this approach provides consistency, it may not always be the most agile. The exception is firms that also provide crisis communications, and are experienced in responding to urgent needs. However, this is often the most expensive segment of traditional PR.

Community communications: The nature of community communications allows for real-time adaptation and responsiveness. Startups can utilize this flexibility to address community concerns, adapt to feedback, and maintain an ongoing dialogue with their community.

High-level tips for effective communication

Know your audience: Understand the demographics, preferences, and expectations of your target audience to tailor your messaging and platforms accordingly. For example, a startup targeting younger consumers might focus on engaging, informal content delivered through social media channels like Instagram and TikTok, with messaging that’s more conversational and personal. On the other hand, one focused on security or finance might want a more authoritative, formal tone that lets customers know serious people are in charge. 

Bottom line: know where your people hang out and show up there with an understanding of the scene. 

Be transparent: Open and honest communication is vital to building trust within your community. Share updates on company developments, acknowledge setbacks, and demonstrate how you're working to improve. We’re all human here. 

Encourage interaction: Actively engage with your community by asking questions, soliciting feedback, and responding to comments. This fosters a sense of connection and makes your community feel heard and valued. It also makes your messaging and outreach sharper, because you have a much better handle on what current and future customers are looking for.

While traditional PR and community communications each have their distinct advantages, an integrated approach can help startups create lasting relationships with their target audiences. If you’re looking for an agency that gets modern day PR and community building, look no further than hype lab and feel free to get in touch.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a technology of the future—it’s already here. It has already been integrated into our daily lives, and its impact is growing every day. However, the mainstream adoption of AI is not quite there yet. There are many reasons for this, but the one I want to talk about today may be the simplest: we just need more fun experiences. If AI is fun, it will definitely make achieving mainstream adoption a lot smoother.

The more people view AI as some cold, alien technology that’s out to steal their jobs the more difficult it will be to encourage mass adoption. But if we build fun, useful, and engaging experiences… well that’s an easier way to slowly introduce people to the concept of AI and its benefits.

We've seen some recent examples of AI experiences. For instance, Slack, Snapchat, Microsoft Bing, Discord, and Skype have all added chatbots to their apps. These bots are not only useful, but they also add an element of fun to the user experience. They can help you order pizza, play games, or even tell jokes. These bots are becoming increasingly popular and are opening up new avenues for businesses to engage with their customers.

Making AI fun

Another example of a fun AI experience is Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. These platforms make it incredibly easy to create stunning works of art with just text as input. They use AI algorithms to transform simple text into beautiful images with the proper context. Anyone can create artistic pieces without any prior knowledge of art!

One of the most exciting aspects of AI is that anyone can leverage the OpenAI API to build on top of. This means you can create your own chatbot experiences. The OpenAI API is a powerful tool that provides access to cutting-edge AI models. With it, you can create chatbots that can understand natural language, answer questions, and even have a personality. The possibilities are endless—and the best part is that you don't need to be an AI expert to get started.

Another fascinating application of AI is the ability to clone voices. Tools like ElevenLabs can clone a person's voice with just a few minutes of audio recordings. This opens up new possibilities for chatbots. For example, you could make a bot that talks in a familiar voice, like that of a celebrity or a loved one. This kind of personalization and customization can make AI experiences even more fun and engaging.

In practice

In fact, I’ve been working on a chatbot project that utilizes the OpenAI API and ElevenLabs. The project, which I have dubbed, cackGPT, is an AI voice bot that you can have conversations with. cackGPT has 20+ built-in personas that you can select from, including a roast persona, a rap battle persona, and a choose your own space adventure persona. All of the prompts you give are over voice and cackGPT responds in kind with voice. 

Perhaps one of the coolest features of cackGPT is the fact that some personas have their own custom voice. For example, the default cackGPT persona uses my voice. How cool is that? I’m literally talking to myself!

Here’s a basic example of cackGPT in action:

AI concerns 

With all this fun, it's also important to acknowledge that there are concerns about AI, particularly regarding job displacement. As AI continues to advance, there is a fear that it will replace human jobs. While this is a valid concern, it's important to note that AI can also create new job opportunities—just as personal computing did. As AI becomes more prevalent, it will require a skilled workforce to develop and maintain it. It’s up to you to start educating yourself because this technology isn’t going away, it will only become more prevalent. In fact, some people (*ahem* Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google) even believe that AI will be a more important invention than fire and electricity.

Another concern is achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a type of AI that can learn and reason like a human. If achieved, AGI could completely change the world as we know it. However, it's important to approach AGI with caution and consider the ethical implications of such a technology. It's crucial to develop AI in a responsible and ethical manner that benefits humanity as a whole—something Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI also agrees with.

Parting thoughts

In conclusion, AI has the potential to revolutionize the way we live and work. However, for it to achieve mainstream adoption, it needs to be fun – you know, so we can ease into it. The integration of AI into platforms like Slack, Snapchat, and Skype has already shown us the potential for fun AI experiences. And with tools like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and the OpenAI API, anyone can create their own fun AI experiences. The future of AI is bright, and I can't wait to see what kind of fun experiences it brings with it.

Interested in trying out cackGPT or chatting about AI/PR/strategy? Reach out!

I’ve written extensively about my love for Philips Hue color LED lights, including how to create really cool light palettes, but today I want to dive deeper into how I’ve gone about creating the ultimate sensory experience in my office (and elsewhere around the house). It’s been a game changer in how I live and work.

Creating a sensory room experience

There are a few things I consider while building out a sensory room. The first is always the lighting. White light is harsh, it’s not fun, and it’s always the same – sometimes you can’t even dim your lights. The horror! This is why I love the Philips Hue color LED lights – they’re a little pricey but worth it. I’ve had all of mine for around 3-4 years at this point and to be honest, there’s no way I could go back to anything else. Which is exactly why I’m slowly replacing all the lights in my house. 

Now that you’ve got your Philips Hue lights, the next thing I consider is what other lighting accessories I can buy to enhance the experience of being in the space. This ranges from the lamps for the lights to additional types of lighting such as a galaxy projector. 

I would also recommend thinking about sounds within the room. Consider a good pair of speakers – they can make all the difference when it comes to creating an immersive experience. 

Aside from using technology to create sensory experiences in your room, you should also look at art and textures (e.g. a fuzzy chair). Obviously, the right art in a space can really bring it together but paired with good lighting it can change your experience when looking at the piece. That’s exactly the case for me, I have a piece of art – it’s a colorful acrylic painting of John Lennon, and when I adjust the hi-hat light above the painting, it’s a completely different vibe. I can stare at it for hours. 

Another big tip of mine when building out a sensory room is: color is good. I repeat: color is good! Don’t be afraid of color! Embrace it! And please, please make it fun! 

Why create a sensory room experience? 

That’s a good question to ask, especially because it seems like something that is a high-effort, luxury item. I’ll tell you why setting up a sensory room isn’t as hard as you think — and is totally worth it!

Match mood / vibe – A good sensory room should be able to match your mood and vibe. Think of it as an extension of how you currently feel. It should feel good in your room when you’re sitting or standing in it. Ideally, the lighting should feel like part of the room, not just something that allows you to see in the room. 

Soothing effect / de-stressing – Sensory rooms are great for de-stressing. Between your lighting options, sounds, and textures (e.g. silky soft blanket) you can create a nice little space where you can find calm and comfort. 

Colors are cheery – I think seeing color – especially bright colors – daily, makes me happier. I can’t promise the same will be for you, but it’s certainly a possible plus. 

Products for sensory room experiences

Here are some of the products I have in my office / sensory room that I can highly recommend:

• Philips Hue starter kit – $173

• Rosetta Galaxy projector – $40

• Weave Greige floor lamp – $229

• Fresno swivel chair – $1,899 (I actually have a different chair, but they don’t sell it anymore. This one is somewhat similar.)

• KEF LS50 Wireless II – $2,799 (I have the original KEF LS50 Wireless speakers. This is the newer version.) 

• Weighted blanket – $31

Time to get started

Hopefully by now you’re at least curious about creating a sensory room in your home – or maybe even throughout your home! You now have a good place to start. And don’t be overwhelmed by all of this — we did my space over the course of 2.5 years. See how the space looked before we [slowly] turned it into a sensory experience.

If you have any questions about creating sensory rooms (or PR/strategy/marketing), please don’t hesitate to reach out! 

A(i) bonus

I created some AI generated art with Midjourney to dream up what a really dope sensory room could look. Take a look — curious which you think is better: AI or mine?

Fourteen years ago I challenged myself to use Bing exclusively for an entire week. Keep in mind this is when Microsoft’s latest search engine was just getting started. And as history has shown, over the next few years, Microsoft spent millions on marketing Bing to the masses with essentially no return. But all that is about to change (well, perhaps…) as AI comes front and center to search. Today, Microsoft is announcing it’s bringing ChatGPT to Bing.

This is a massive deal. Both Microsoft and Google are serious about owning the next era of the internet, especially where related to search. And for Microsoft this is an opportunity to get a leg up on Google–something I’m sure Satya Nadella would absolutely love to add to his tenure. In typical competitive fashion, when Microsoft announced its event showcasing the integration of ChatGPT into Bing, Google released news about their new AI chatbot tech, Bard. Gotta love it!   

In the spirit of the original challenge, I’ll be using Bing exclusively for an entire week. I’ll report back with my thoughts. 

We’re moving into the age of AI. If you don’t understand the implications of this transition, especially as it relates to PR, marketing, and strategy, keep reading. 

One of the most important factors to being to be efficient and effective with ChatGPT is knowing how to craft the right inputs and prompts. And that’s what I’ve been spending so much time doing as a PR consultant to tech companies. For example, in my recent experiment, I used specific language and messaging I had spent time developing and iterating for this sample client. Putting less precise messaging into ChatGPT wouldn’t drive as effective a narrative, and would result in a mechanical sounding press release that reporters would see through.

More importantly, AI tools like ChatGPT mean that I get more time back to work with my clients on strategy and execution. 

Any time that may have been previously spent formatting and adding boilerplate language to a press release is now free for better uses like developing a killer pitch and curating the right media list to maximize press coverage. A press release is only as good as its distribution, and less time drafting copy is more time I can dedicate to ensuring that release gets in front of the people who can make a difference for my client.

The press release is an important tool to generate media coverage and raise awareness, and ChatGPT has essentially automated part of the process. It’s important for PR professionals—particularly those of us in tech—to adapt to the changing landscape. 

Those of us who are eager to learn and admit to not knowing—and being OK with that—will be the ones who succeed. In the words of Steve Jobs, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” 

Today, it’s crucial to look for ways to take advantage of your time back and then find ways to give it back to your clients. I’d even argue that failure to do that will mean loss of clients. 

From a founder perspective, you’re already wired to be interested in utilizing tools like ChatGPT to make your business more efficient. Spend time exploring how AI will impact your company and more importantly, spend time testing and playing with these tools. It doesn’t take long to see the value. 

For literally any stage startup, leveraging a tool like ChatGPT can help cut costs in many areas, and I would absolutely encourage you to do so. But again, as I’ve seen in my brief usage, you’re going to need the right inputs, prompts, and strategy–and you can only get those things if you experiment and learn right now.

For a bunch of additional AI resources, check out my good friend Anne Carney’s Substack post. And if you’re a founder looking to work with a PR agency that gets the future, reach out.

Today I’m announcing a brand new addition to my Substack publication: the pull to read subscriber chat.

This is a conversation space in the Substack app that I set up exclusively for my subscribers — kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post short prompts, thoughts, and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.

To join our chat, you’ll need to download the Substack app, now available for both iOS and Android. Chats are sent via the app, not email, so turn on push notifications so you don’t miss conversation as it happens.

How to get started

1. Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Substack Chat is now available on both iOS and Android.

Get app

2. Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.

3. That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.

Join chat

ChatGPT will absolutely change the way we, as humans, interact with machines from an input and output perspective but also from a getting “time back” perspective as well. Recently, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT dropped the latest free research preview on January 9 and as you would expect, it didn’t take long for people to start exploring the changes, including an improved model and the ability to stop generating responses (a great time saver).

Since November when the initial research preview was released, the internet has become abuzz. People shouting from the rooftops of Twitter, Discord, and Clubhouse about how “this is the future!” Of course, me being the geek that I am, had to see for myself what all the hubbub was about. It didn’t take long for me to start nodding with everyone in agreement. And after playing with it a bit, I know it’s going to be a powerful tool for me professionally.

For founders there’s so many ways you can leverage ChatGPT for your startup — e.g. test a business model, create content, write code, etc. As a PR / strategy consultant, I wondered if ChatGPT would be able to write a decent press release — and if so, what that would mean for startups looking to save cash on PR, as well as for me and my business. So one of the first tests I conducted with ChatGPT was to write a press release for a fake company.

Writing a press release with ChatGPT

The process for writing a press release with ChatGPT is really easy. In fact, if you show up armed with some good quotes and basic company information, you can have a workable press release ready to go within an hour. It’s really quite impressive — of course, once you’ve done the hard work developing messaging and getting quotes.

I started with writing the following prompt to ChatGPT:

“I need to write a press release to send out on the news wire and also to send to journalists who will be covering the launch of a new product. What information do you need to write the release? It should be written geared towards tech journalists.”

ChatGPT responded with a seven point list of information that it would recommend including in the press release:

1. Headline

2. Subheading

3. Lead paragraph

4. Product features and highlights

5. Quotes from the executive team and stakeholders

6. About information

7. Contact information

It even provided further details on the kind of information you should include in each section. Very useful!

With this information now in mind, I wrote a new prompt:

This time I gave ChatGPT more specifics: “I need a press release for a web3 company that’s building the future of token gated access and community insights. It should be intriguing.”

I went on to tell ChatGPT that the headline should make tech journalists want to read more about web3, token gating, and community insights. While the subheading should focus on the design and improvement in community management.

From there it was simple, I fed in a few quotes and told it to put it all together.

Moments later, I watched as the screen started filling up with text. First a headline, then a subheading, then a lead paragraph, etc. It was writing the press release!

This type of content creation is one of the things that makes ChatGPT so powerful. Now, with the right inputs, any startup founder can easily author a professional press release for their product and/or company news. While that might scare some PR professionals, it excites the hell out of me.

The ChatGPT generated press release

The following press release was written by ChatGPT. From its initial draft, I had the AI make three revisions. The first was to make the original headline it wrote a bit punchier. The other two revisions were related to additional content needing to be added (the capital raise and the team’s past experience — and again, things a PR professional could help identify)

I have to say I’m impressed. What do you think? If you’re a founder looking to work with a PR agency that gets the future, reach out.

Headline: Pied Piper Unleashes Token Gated Access and Community Insights for Web3, Revolutionizing Community Management

Subheading: New platform helps community managers work smarter, faster, and more effectively with easy token gating and comprehensive insights

Lead: Today, Pied Piper, a web3 company building the future of token gated communities, announced the launch of its innovative platform. The company has also announced that it raised $5MM in venture capital from Summit Ventures and Hyperion Capital. With a management team comprised of ex-Google, Meta, and Microsoft employees, Pied Piper is well-equipped to tackle the challenges of building products for web3 communities.

“As former employees of some of the biggest tech companies in the world, we saw an opportunity in web3 to build a more streamlined product that puts users first,” said Jackson Smith, Co-Founder of Pied Piper. “Our experience building products used by millions of people is just what web3 needs right now. With Pied Piper, we’re creating better community tools that will onboard many more people into web3.”

“When we were building Pied Piper, we talked to dozens of likely users who told us the tools they were using just weren’t up to the job,” said Brandon Nguyen, Co-Founder of Pied Piper. “With our easy token gating and comprehensive insights, Pied Piper is giving managers the tools to multiply their time, working better, faster and more effectively. Managing communities is hard work, and your tools should make it easier.”

John Williams, Partner at Hyperion Capital, commented on the launch: “Pied Piper’s service gives web3 companies access to real-time data they can use to meet the needs of their growing communities. We’re excited to see how web3 applications and platforms leverage this technology, and are thrilled to be part of the team.”

“We are thrilled to have the support of Summit Ventures and Hyperion Capital as we embark on this journey,” said Nguyen. “Their expertise, support and real-world operational experience will help us grow Pied Piper to its full potential.”

Pied Piper’s platform offers a range of features that help web3 communities function better, including more secure token gated access, and better tools for managing and growing communities.

About Pied Piper:

Pied Piper is a web3 company that is building the future of token gated access and community insights for web3 communities. Founded by Brandon Nguyen and Jackson Smith, and a team of experienced professionals, Pied Piper is committed to helping community managers work smarter, faster, and more effectively.

Media Contact:

Name: Jeff Weisbein

Email: jeff@hypelab.digital

Concluding thoughts

Now you can see just how powerful a tool like ChatGPT can be. This is literally just the tip of the iceberg. If I had one piece of advice for founders looking to use ChatGPT to write a press release (or really any task), it would be to spend time learning how to write effective prompts that get you the results you’re looking for. Stay tuned for more articles on this topic from me.

So you’re building a community and you want to do it right. The most important things to know and do when it comes to community building are:

• Connecting people together

• Providing direction

• Being communicative and transparent

• Understanding culture is king

• Being incredibly welcoming

But sometimes getting to this point in a community can be difficult and that’s what we’re going to talk about.

Everyone loves to talk about building community, but what about discussions on solving problems faced by communities? Most communities experience one or all of the following problems at some point during their life:

• Your community isn’t as active as you would like them to be.

• It’s hard to find the right balance between information control and transparency.

• It’s difficult to recruit new members.

• Trust and safety within your community is a growing concern.

• You’re having trouble working together to achieve community goals and objectives.

While building communities is a fun, rewarding process it requires a lot of work. From the organizing to the setup to the onboarding and welcoming all the way to dealing with trust and safety within the community itself. There is just so much that goes into it. I’ve built countless communities online over the years and boy have I learned a lot.

The problems I outline above are all things that I’ve experienced while building communities online. If you’re experiencing them too you may be making some community building mistakes. Here are five solutions to bring your community back on track.

Community building solutions

Be a dot connector. While it may seem painfully obvious–you need to introduce people to each other. A lack of interconnectedness in a community is detrimental. It’s your job as the community builder to connect the people within your community together. This can be one of the most difficult things to facilitate in a community. However, doing it means a more vibrant community where people feed off each other’s energy and knowledge. Otherwise you just have a bunch of people in a group chat with no real direction or incentive to participate. It would be like a tree without roots–not only would it be easy for it to fall over, it wouldn’t be able to feed itself either.

Be the North Star of your community. Direction keeps things moving forward. Communities need it to thrive. You need a plan. You need to set objectives. You need to be the voice encouraging and rewarding people. It’s always better to be working towards a goal as a collective — it helps with accountability and will usually result in reaching the goal much faster. And obviously direction can change or be adjusted as necessary.

Even if you’re building a community of friends, direction is still a useful thing to have. Understanding the point of the community and where you want it to go (or not go for that matter) will leave you with less headaches down the road.

Be communicative and transparent. For example: when you decide to make a change (of any kind — change to the roadmap, having to remove a member, change in leadership, etc) provide a generalized synopsis of what’s changing and why. That doesn’t, however, mean you need to give every single detail (though I encourage giving as many details as you feel comfortable with).

Communicate with your community through general updates throughout the week–not everything requires an announcement. Let them know what you, the team, and the rest of the community is up to through chat and/or voice! When it comes to announcements, they can be shared at least once a week. I think it’s a good cadence that isn’t too overwhelming for people.

Culture makes or breaks your community. Oftentimes weak community culture is the result of lack of clear rules and consistent enforcement. Some communities thrive on chaos, most do not. Your community needs structure. Rules are important. Not to be overbearing, but to serve as a guide to members and to set expectations. Your rules can evolve too. You can always add new ones, remove old ones, or even modify existing ones. What’s most important is that you have some kind of rules before opening the doors.

Here’s an example from my NFT project’s (crypto cackles) Discord:

1) Be respectful and kind to others. No personal attacks against other members, no unsolicited nude pictures in DM, no toxicity, no sexual harassment. Failure to abide by any of these will result in an immediate ban.

2) No pornographic/adult/other NSFW content. This is a community server and not meant to share this kind of content.

3) No spamming or advertisements. Do not spam or advertise other projects or communities outside of the 🚀alpha channel. Additionally, do not DM spam or advertise to other members of the community.

4) Have fun! Laugh! A lot.

As you can see it doesn’t have to be too crazy. The purpose is to set expectations and have something you can use to lean on for any potential actions you need to take. It’s also good to include a “how to be” guideline–don’t just tell people what they can’t do, tell them what you encourage them to do as well.

When it comes to enforcement, the most important thing is to be fair and compassionate when dealing with issues between fellow members. If it’s necessary for you or another member on the community team to get involved, the most successful outcomes come when taking the time to listen and work with all the members involved to find a solution. I’m not going to lie, this is easier said than done and sometimes you’re not able to come to a resolution that everyone is happy with–and that’s okay.

WELCOME EVERYONE: in the earliest days of building community it can’t be stressed enough how important it is that you are present and actively welcoming new members in. Not only are you building relationships with new members, you’re also setting the tone for all the other members of what happens when someone new joins the community. This is incredibly important.

I welcome every person who joins my Discord with an enthusiastic greeting, brief conversation, and then point them in the right direction of any relevant community information (e.g. upcoming events, our website, mint info, etc). It’s a simple welcome, but it works. It’s surprising to me how many new communities I join where new members just aren’t welcomed or in some cases acknowledged.

If you’re making any of these mistakes–don’t worry you can fix them! The best place to start is by talking to your community leaders and proposing a change. From there you can figure out what steps to take next. If you are looking for help with web3 PR and/or community building, I love connecting with web3 businesses who are building cool stuff. Let’s chat!

Prediction: We’re shifting to a time where we will be using social audio more in the next 2–3 years. Currently, we’re living in a time where people predominantly use text to communicate online in social settings. There are several reasons for this shift including the proliferation of AirPods and other bluetooth earphones, the growth of web3, the explosion of community, the fact it can be easier and faster to talk, and it’s also much more personal.

We are currently in a social audio holding pattern. There seems to be a lot of misconception and confusion about what social audio even is. If I asked someone on Twitter, “what is social audio?” they probably wouldn’t be able to tell me. While this doesn’t seem to bode well for the entire social audio category, we’re in the midst of a transition in which it will become more clear. Right now, the companies working on pushing the boundaries of audio communication on the internet are all heads down building the next iteration of their platforms which will ultimately lead to more widespread adoption.

Let’s take a moment for everyone to reset any expectations we may have about social audio.

Now that we’re all coming in with a blank slate, let’s start by redefining social audio.

Old Definition: Social audio is a medium to communicate with connections through audio.

New Definition: Social audio is a communication layer or “place” that enables shared real time experiences between two or more people connected over audio.

Now to examine some potential use cases for social audio:

• brainstorming

• planning/organizing

• thoughtful conversations

• lightweight friend call

• collaboration and coworking spaces

• group listening and discussion

• social events and games

• gamer chat

• shows / broadcasts

These use cases are so different from social apps of yesteryear which are strictly broadcast platforms that have been makeshift converted into communities over the years. Platforms like Instagram and Twitter are prime examples of social broadcast platforms that have layered “community tools” on top. Instead of being built for community from the ground up, you end up with features like “Super Follows,” and the inability to have more granular community controls. That isn’t the case with a well-designed social audio app — one that will let you communicate with your community, friends, family through audio but not limit you to just that. We’ll touch on this more later.

The framework in which we’ve been trained to think about social media in terms of numbers and eyeballs, is changing. With social audio it’s no longer about follower counts, likes, or retweets — it’s about connection and being part of something. This is how you build long-term sustainable communities: pairing social audio with community ownership through tokens, governance, and the ability to create entire ecosystems through the blockchain. For example, I use social audio to build awareness and community for my NFT project crypto cackles. It has really allowed me to get my message (and laugh) out there in a way that just wouldn’t have been possible on text alone.

It’s almost an obvious statement but this also means that social platforms that plan to exist in the future will need to change as well — something that we can often forget by getting caught up in the moment. Social platforms will continue to become much more community centric, where the ability to to cross collaborate, and communicate freely and easily will be some of the most crucially important features.

In fact we’ve already seen this coming to fruition with the explosion in popularity of Discord, an individual community-based social networking platform where anyone can sign up to create their own Discord Servers (or communities). Social isn’t just about projecting a particular lifestyle or brand, it’s about being with your friends. When you’re with friends you want to actually speak to them — not just text, but a call is sometimes too formal — another complexity that social audio solves.

I like this quote from David Pierce in Protocol, “The better metaphor than calling is walking into a room and plopping down on the sofa: You’re simply saying, I’m here, what’s up?” That’s social audio. This small change in both functionality and mindset significantly reduces the anxiety associated with calling someone.

So where is social audio heading? The best social audio experiences are typically smaller and more intimate — and that will likely be a majority of your experience on any social audio platform. Broadcasts and shows are great, but they’re not where social audio really shines through. In the past, I’ve said that one of the reasons the Clubhouse app is an incredible place is because everyone can start a room on any topic and easily find others to converse with about it. At the core of social audio is the idea of connecting people. Often at the right time, to talk about the right topic . That’s where we’re headed — to a place where we can have better conversations.

Enter audio first communities (e.g. Discord Servers, Houses): The two best examples of communities that are powered by an audio first platform are Discord Servers and a new beta feature on Clubhouse called Houses that are being designed as audio first communities. In fact, both Discord and Clubhouse have taken a page from the same social playbook. Similarly to how each Discord Server is its own unique instance of Discord, each House acts as a unique instance of Clubhouse that is operated by a community creator. These communities are different from most–they revolve around audio. While text and other media can be shared in both asynchronous and synchronous fashions, voice is the primary form of communication resulting in deeper connections between community members.

Right now, Houses are at the very beginning of a promising audio first community product and from what I’ve seen so far, I like the direction. What I like most about them is how they combine asynchronous and synchronous communication with unique features like “Waving” a recent chat message to start a conversation/room. Additionally, Clubhouse being audio first also underscores how Paul + Rohan (Clubhouse co-founders) & Co. are continuing to push the boundaries of real time audio as well as how the team understands the importance of high fidelity audio when it comes to good communication and user experience.

Voice isn’t going away. As you may have noticed, it’s already becoming more prominent throughout the internet and apps. It took the viral medium of audio by way of Clubhouse for incumbent social companies to be inspired to innovate again. With the integration of social audio layers, more people will begin to realize the importance of audio, voice and just how antiquated (and laborious) mediums like text are. As our lives are increasingly lived online, this will become more evident. In fact, it’s already being recognized. Check out this tweet by c a designer at Twitter Spaces in which she states “some convos just can’t happen via tweets.” This tweet is actually the start of a really incredible thread that’s worth reading by c where she outlines the design thinking behind creating a feature that helps facilitate more conversations.

The next time someone says social audio is dead, remember this: it took Discord five years to start to turn the platform into a communication tool not just for gamers, but for everyone from study groups to sneakerheads to NFT collectors. For some perspective, Clubhouse is only two years old. The era of social audio is just beginning.

Looking for help with web3 PR? I love connecting with web3 businesses who are building cool stuff. Let’s chat!

The company appears to be shifting its focus from a more creator/show-centric vibe to more community-centric one and these departures align with that type of thinking. Think about it, in between the shows, what do people do? Where do they hang out? Ultimately, in the past year and a half that I’ve been on the app, I’ve found that people stay on Clubhouse for the people they meet, not for the shows they attend.

Out of these three positions that are being departed, it’s Anu’s that may leave people scratching their head the most. The Head of Community is leaving? Isn’t that critical to the success of Clubhouse? And the answer is yes–however, I believe the company’s next Head of Community hire will be a different type of hire than Anu — instead of hiring someone who can manage the complexities of a large community, they’re going to be looking to hire someone who can equip a universe of communities to build on the platform (more on this later).

Clubhouse has always been a multiplayer game, a collaborative effort by many people — that’s what makes it special. Over the last year and a half, I’ve gotten to know both Anu and Nina through the community, tuning into Anu in Town Hall and Lessons in Moderation and getting my news from Nina’s news rooms in the What Just Happened? Club. Both of their impacts on the community at Clubhouse did not go unnoticed!

But with their departures has come renewed questions about what the company’s future looks like as well as the whether social audio is here to stay. Despite the general waning sentiment, I’m still bullish on not only Clubhouse but also social audio. Clubhouse, by far, has the best social audio experience, it’s far more usable than Twitter Spaces and offers features that are light years ahead (Music mode, room chat, bigger stages, better discovery). The team is also shipping and firing on all cylinders, which is a lot more than you can say about the Twitter Spaces team which is quite literally fighting for its life.

Voice is without a doubt the best means of communication, the more I go back to Twitter, the more antiquated it feels to me. Sure, text has its purpose, but for community building? Voice is where it’s at. That’s why web3 projects (including NFTs) have been leveraging voice so much — it enables much better communication. Frankly I find it incredible we’ve been online so long without such a seamless voice experience. The Clubhouse app is voice-focused and everything the team builds is geared towards creating the best possible voice experience you can find online.

Future of Clubhouse

The future of Clubhouse will look different than its current form. In the past two years the team has been compiling data and doing deep analysis on how and why people use the app–and now, I believe they figured it out. The power of Clubhouse isn’t just as a giant community, it’s about the people in the community — who they’ve met on (and off) the app and their collective experiences.

In my opinion, if you want to think about the future of Clubhouse, it’s more akin to Discord than a standalone social network that’s primarily audio-focused. And with that shift in perspective things look a lot more promising. These days you’re hard pressed to find someone who says “I love Discord!” — the once mainly gamer-focused community app has continued to balloon in features and complexity over the years. When NFTs and DAOs became more popular in the last year many of these web3 projects set up their own Discord servers as their community hubs, only to realize shortly thereafter that Discord isn’t the ideal app for these types of communities. And that’s not really a surprise, after all, Discord is a web 2 tool in a web3 world — something Clubhouse is thinking hard about as they want to avoid this fate.

In recent Clubhouse Town Halls, co-founder Paul Davison has made several comments and posed several questions to the community about web3 and what web3 may look like within the Clubhouse ecosystem, including but not limited to questions about web3 integrations and even token gating of clubs. Plus he’s made reference to building the app on web3 rails instead of web 2 rails numerous times.

It’s those types of communities that will find a more Discord-esqe style Clubhouse experience to be welcome option to the community building toolkit. One factor I think Clubhouse has a massive advantage over Discord right now is in Discovery. The Clubhouse team has been working on improving discovery on the app for over a year now — all this work has already made the hallway much better (especially in comparison to Twitter Spaces) and I believe we’ll see new ways discovery will play a crucial role in the future.

There’s no way around it: the loss of Anu, Nina, and Aarthi stings. However, the shift to focus on engineering, product, and growth over creators is the right one. And with Twitter’s deal with Elon Musk now in potential jeopardy, it’s a perfect time for Clubhouse to break through with a better product and better experience. If we’ve learned anything over the last decade it’s that these social platforms haven’t truly innovated or cared about user privacy in the slightest — so why are we expecting they will start now?

TLDR: don’t sleep on Clubhouse… or do. 🤪

THURSDAY MAY 26, 2022 – 4PM ET

Yep, we’re officially on countdown notice.

It’s been quite the journey to get to this point and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it! I’m so excited about what we’re building and have already built with this community as now we now prepare to officially launch laughter, jokes, and joy onto the blockchain and into the metaverse! Now with the mint approaching, I’d encourage everyone to help spread the word about the project! Retweets, shares, telling your frens! Weeeeeeeee!!!!

I honestly started this because I just love to laugh and wanted to build something that would allow me to share that feeling. Everyone deservers a good laugh! HAHAHAAHAH

OK SO I’ve said this before, but we have a super duper cool gallery mint (it’s basically a way to see and hear all of the hyenas and pick the one you want to mint/buy). If you want to signup to mint EARLY make sure you have connected your wallet and email on the website: https://cryptocackles.com

THE PRESALE MINT WILL START: TUESDAY MAY 24, 2022 – 1:01PM ET

If you have any questions about wallets or need help with anything web3, please don’t ever hesitate to reach out! WE’RE HERE TO HELP!

One point of note: we will be listing on OpenSea — not Coinbase NFT as we originally mentioned.

I’ll be announcing more very shortly! If you have any questions I’m here for it! Please be sure to signup for the presale too so you can get in on the earlier mint date (remember there’s only 101 of them)!!! 🤪

Here’s a tweet which includes my official hyena, I think it came out incredible! AHHH!! I LOVE IT!!!!

If you’re interested in NFTs I’d invite you to join the crypto cackles Discord, feel free to mention @cackles to ping me with your comments/questions. Also be sure to check out our how to mint guide!

So you have an idea for a NFT project? Here’s a list of things you need to know before you can get started.

The origin story

You need an origin story. Every good project has one.

For me, my origin story starts at birth. It’s 32 years in the making. I’ve always been told I have a great laugh, a contagious laugh, the best laugh, etc but it wasn’t until January 2021 when I landed on Clubhouse that those occasional mentions turned into daily, if not multiple times per day, mentions and requests by countless people to turn my laugh into an NFT.

Needless to say at that point in time, I had no idea what an NFT even was, let alone how to create one. And to be honest, I wasn’t too interested in doing it. 🤪

But I wised up when I realized what could be built with an NFT project and so, here I am today, turning my laugh into a platform to make 1 BILLION people laugh. It sounds crazy, but the best ideas often do.

That’s my origin story, what’s yours?

Once you have your origin story, you need to develop your initial concept for the project, think through the mission, the number of NFTs you’re going to create, the price, and the blockchain you’re going to build on.

Well that’s a lot to digest, let’s break it down.

The concept

My concept for crypto cackles has changed and evolved as I’ve learned more about web3 and all the possibilities — and that’s perfectly fine. Your project should evolve, it’s natural. In fact, I’d be worried if it didn’t.

When I originally came up with the concept for the project, it was called Best Laugh Ever. I know — not my best work. 🤪 And it didn’t have like three quarters of what we’re doing now. What can I say? I’m a founder at heart. I love to build.

I went from a base concept of NFTing a single laugh, to creating 101 animated laughing hyenas with individual characteristics and two unique laugh tracks. And from there, I realized we could build in the metaverse. Yep, you can buy land in a metaverse and build there. My idea? To bring comedy clubs and laughter yoga studios to the metaverse. Pair this with the friendships I’ve been developing with comedians and certified laughter yoga instructors, we’re well on our way to making this a reality.

The mission

The easiest way to get people to build a community around an idea is to have a mission everyone can rally around. For us at crypto cackles that mission is two-fold. One is to bring laughter, jokes, and joy to the metaverse and the other part of it is to make 1 BILLION people laugh. As an aside and to clarify for people who have heard me say in the past, our mission is to bring laughter, jokes, and joy to the blockchain, that is also still true. But I felt switching to metaverse was more encompassing of the long-term mission for the project.

I’ve found when you can relate your mission to something that feels “more tangible,” something that people can visualize or equate to something in some way, it makes what you’re building resonate more deeply.

Collection size + price + blockchain

This is a common question I see asked, how big should my collection be? How should I price it? What blockchain should I build on? The answer is… complicated. It depends.

The way I’m thinking about crypto cackles currently is as follows: this is an interesting space that I want to invest my time and money into. It’s also super early and lots of technology is changing quickly, how can I start to build a long-term sustainable project? How can I balance all of this so I can make some money but also be able to reinvest into the future of the project and grow it organically.

So I decided to do a small drop. 101 laughing hyenas listed for .101 ETH. When the project sells out, I’ll have a little more than 10 ETH (which obviously isn’t that much), but what I will have is validation in my project and the conviction to carry on building it. That’s why if you take a look at my roadmap, I’m planning to initiate work on a second collection after selling out with 1001 more NFTs.

Collection size has two major implications: how much money you can raise and how many people can initially buy into the community, so as you can imagine it’s important to think through what number makes sense for you and your team.

I chose the number and price for the initial genesis collection because 101 looks like lol. But I got there after doing some research about hyenas. As it turns out, hyenas live in social groups called clans that consist of up to 130 members so our 101 drop seems reasonable (more cool hyena facts can be found on our website). It also allows me to build out the project organically and manage expectations as well as find a tight-knit group of ‘yenas that love to laugh.

Of course, maybe we raise the price on each collection by one lol (or rather, .101)…hmmm. When you’re thinking through the pricing, at the very least figure out what you need to make back any expenses for the project, an amount you want to earn, and the rest should be reinvested back into the project.

One project that I recently minted was priced at .23 for one NFT and put half of the ETH earned into a DAO that the community can vote to do things with. Bottom line here is when it comes to pricing, creativity is your friend.

When it comes to deciding what blockchain to build on, it’s a bit more clear. Ethereum is the current blockchain leader for NFTs, this is due to the quality of the projects launching on the network, the pricing of $ETH, and the overall security and stability of the Ethereum network. That being said, one of the biggest drawbacks currently with the Ethereum blockchain is the gas (transaction) fees that come along with every transaction on the network. Gas prices can vary depending on network utilization, they can range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars (usually they’re around $10-$50).

The Ethereum development team is working on major changes to the network including moving from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (better for the environment too) as well as introducing sharding. With sharding, validators on the Ethereum blockchain will only need to access the data being processed on shard chain and not the entire main chain (as is the case currently). This will supposedly cut the gas fees significantly. It will also commensurately reduce required computing power, thus providing relief to transaction validators. These changes are slated for 2023 likely at the earliest.

Of course there are other blockchains too, another up-and-coming chain is Solana which is growing, receiving more interest from developers, and has better projects launching on it. The first Solana project I took part in was the Shrimp Society and I’m a proud holder to this day!

Solana is a great choice for Play-2-Earn NFT games as the transaction fees on Solana are essentially zero. For more info on Solana I’d recommend reading Packy McCormick’s blog post.

Build a team

A successful NFT project is a team effort, this isn’t something you can or will want to do alone. If you’re not an artist, you’ll want to find one. A developer is also pretty much a must-have. I also brought on a sound engineer because my project is an audio visual experience. Be creative!

Identify people in your already existing network and community to find people to work with. It may take time to find the right people so don’t be discouraged. Reach out with the concept of your project and assess their interest, as the founder of an NFT project, you need to be able to sell the mission and idea to your team first, then everyone else.

If you’re looking to break into NFTs and don’t know anyone, join in the conversations happening on Clubhouse and Twitter. People are out there talking about what people are building in realtime.

Once you find an artist, the best thing to do is ideate your way through the art with them, come up with a core design and then determine what accessories and other elements you want to include. Have them mockup early sketches and build from there. Communicate what you’re looking for as clearly as possible with constructive feedback that moves you towards the ultimate vision.

The same applies to working with a developer or any other member of the team. Mockups are crucial, they help you map out ideas. It’s also important to build and iterate quickly. You’re not going to ever feel 💯 comfortable with anything you ship. If you do, you waited too long.

I also want to take a moment to encourage everyone building an NFT project to push the boundaries on what’s possible to help bring more innovation to the space.

Take copious notes

What I’m about to say should not be taken lightly. Write everything down so you can reference it later. This is incredibly important as you ideate your way through the project. Your project will naturally evolve over time and it’s good to track that. It’s also helpful when revisiting ideas you had while building but didn’t have the bandwidth to spend time on in the moment.

Plan ahead + have a roadmap

This should go without saying but plan ahead. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Whatever you think you need, give yourself another few weeks at least. This will mean less stress as the mint approaches as you bake in time for things to go wrong (and they will).

Prior to mint, you should have thought through your project’s marketing, voice, and community building strategies. For example, develop a strategy for Twitter (+Spaces), Clubhouse, Medium, etc. Know where and how you will be spending your time to raise your project’s awareness. Design a way to find and engage with people on those platforms where you’ll be hanging out (hot tip: consider using Twitter lists as a way to identify and organize people).

You will also want to have any giveaways pre-planned. Giveaways are a fantastic way to seed your NFT into the market to build awareness. My recommendation would be to create a document with people you want to give an NFT to and their wallet addresses. Personally, I don’t plan on airdropping to these people as I think it can get lost in people’s wallets + other reasons including security and cost, so what you can do is have your developer create a way to send a direct link to mint where they only have to pay gas.

Another important thing to have is a launch plan (e.g. day, time, promotion, events, social engagement, content to onboard n00bs, etc).

Be transparent

It’s so vital that you’re able to communicate your plans and ideas clearly with your community via Clubhouse, Twitter, Discord, your website, etc and ask for feedback as you build. If you make a mistake, own it and grow from it. I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t say this: voice is core to web3, you’re going to want to take advantage of it so plan content specifically for Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces.

Part of being transparent includes doxxing yourself. It’s better to be a doxxed project (meaning people know your real identity) as it adds another layer of trust and transparency to your project that no non-doxxed project can ever come close to matching. I even link directly to my LinkedIn profile on the crypto cackles website. 🤓

Like what we’re building at crypto cackles? Check out this tweet (likes/RTs encouraged) where we share our first-look at the laughing hyena art.

If you’re interested in NFTs I’d invite you to join the crypto cackles Discord, feel free to mention @cackles to ping me with your comments/questions. Also be sure to check out our how to mint guide!

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to mint your crypto cackles NFT, or really any NFT on the Ethereum Blockchain.

The mint price is .101 ETH. 1 cackle = .101 ETH.

You will need the following three things to mint a crypto cackles NFT:

1. An Ethereum wallet (e.g. MetaMask).

2. You will want to add more than .101 ETH into a wallet, this is to cover the gas fees on the Ethereum Blockchain We would recommend having at least .105 ETH in your Ethereum wallet.

3. Go to cryptocackles.com on May 26, 2022 for the public sale or visit the site now to sign up to mint early as well as be entered in for a chance to win a crypto cackles laughing hyena giveaway.

There are a couple different ways to buy Ethereum. We’ll break them down here:

OPTION 1: The easiest way to purchase ETH and be ready for mint is to purchase ETH via the MetaMask wallet and MoonPay.

Here are the steps:

1. Download MetaMask (our preferred Ethereum wallet)

2. Install the MetaMask extension in Chrome (or any Chromium-based browser such as Brave or Vivaldi) and complete the onboarding setup. It’s helpful to pin the MetaMask extension to your extensions bar in the browser so you have easy access.

• As a side note, you may also want to download and install the MetaMask app on your phone (available on iOS and Android) as it could come in handy later.

3. IMPORTANT: Save your Recovery/Seed Phrase in multiple safe places — both analog and digitally. Write it down on a piece of paper. Your Recovery/Seed Phrase is the only thing that can recover access to your wallet should you need it.

Once your wallet is setup, it should look like this from the main wallet screen.

1. Now go to MoonPay and buy at least .105 ETH to mint 1 crypto cackle. Since you have already installed the MetaMask wallet the MoonPay site will recognize that and connect to your wallet (meaning it will automatically input the correct wallet address — very nifty!).

2. Complete the payment onboarding process and finalize sending your payment to MoonPay.

3. Now when you look at your MetaMask wallet it will have funds in it (it may take a few minutes to appear).

4. Congratulations! Your ETH will now be available in your MetaMask Wallet.

Side note: if you have difficulty with this, fear not! We have another solution for you.

OPTION 2: Buy ETH from a crypto exchange. We recommend Coinbase.

1. Create a Coinbase account (or exchange of choice) and complete onboarding. If you use our link we both get $10!

2. For Coinbase, click the blue “Buy” button. This will be at the bottom of the mobile app or the top of the desktop app.

3. Select “Buy crypto with cash”

4. Search and select “Ethereum”

5. Click the arrow switch button to change the amount to ETH.

6. Input at least .105 ETH (If you want to purchase more than 1 crypto cackle, be sure to buy the appropriate amount of ETH. Remember 1 crypto cackle = .101 ETH)

7. Choose your purchase frequency. (Default is a one-time purchase).

8. Click “Preview Buy”

9. Click “Buy Now”

If you purchased ETH using Moonpay, the ETH will be available in your MetaMask wallet shortly thereafter. If you purchased ETH via an exchange (e.g Coinbase), you will have to transfer your ETH to your MetaMask wallet. Here’s how:

1. In the MetaMask wallet, click/tap on your wallet address at the top of the app to copy it to your clipboard (it should look like a long string of characters e.g. 0x58851aB52b26316eC32812ceaD784631FAa973C5)

2. Next, open the crypto exchange where you bought ETH and Click Pay or Send depending on the exchange.

3. Paste your MetaMask wallet address into the exchange field that says “Send to” or “Receiver”

4. Finally, complete the transaction. It may take a few minutes for the transaction and funds to show up in your MetaMask wallet.

Now onto the Mint

The crypto cackles public sale is on May 26, 2022 (but be sure to connect your wallet before so you’re eligible to win one of the giveaways we’re hosting 🤪)

1. Go to cryptocackles.com

2. Select the number of crypto cackles you want to mint.

3. Click the “Mint” button on the front page.

4. Approve the connection to your MetaMask wallet.

5. Complete the transaction and your new crypto cackles NFT will be available immediately in your Ethereum wallet.

If you run into any difficulties we encourage you to join the Discord, feel free to @team cackles members and we’re happy to help walk you through the process.

Special thanks to Josh Luttenberger for testing out the instructions to make sure they work. 🤓

I was in a Twitter Space last night titled “web3 is a VC rug pull” in which people (including Aaron Levie, founder @ Box) were debating the merits of web3 vs web 2 in front of 900+ people, and I have to say, the entire space (from the people that I heard — I was in there about an hour or so) got it completely wrong.

The key factor most people seem to be missing: web3 doesn’t mean web 2 doesn’t exist. In fact, both web 2 and web3 can co-exist in harmony. Not everything in the world has to be completely decentralized, as was noted in the space, sometimes some amount centralization can be beneficial.

Let’s take a look back in time (not even that long ago):

The year was 2007, the iPhone just came out. The iPhone by the way, is largely responsible for the web 2 shift in computing, in which we’ve gone from mostly desktop computer usage to now mostly mobile smartphone usage, giving way for apps and web services to thrive. That being said, most of us still use computers for certain tasks (hell, I still prefer using a computer a lot of the time). Apple is continuing to make more powerful Macs despite the leaps and bounds made on mobile.

Why?

• Because a computer is still useful.

• Even before the iPhone or web 2, we had web 1 which brought us “websites” — a common form factor for navigating the web that we still use today.

• The only difference is the underlying technology has evolved since web 1 into web 2 and now web3.

Web 2 companies have provided the tools and building blocks that have enabled the web3 space to come into existence. Let’s be clear though: web 2 companies will still be in existence tomorrow, though, maybe they won’t be as powerful (which isn’t a bad thing). Competition is a good.

Web3 gives us more options

What web3 offers people is a paradigm shift in the way we think about using the internet. It gives us options. Who’s ever been against options? Which is why I didn’t understand last night’s conversation in which people were arguing over whether Twitter makes sense as a blockchain/web3 company.

News flash: it doesn’t have to make sense in web3, we have it in web 2. Why are we so concerned about reinventing the wheel instead of creating new experiences? That’s what web3 does. It gives people who aren’t your traditional Silicon Valley type the ability to create and build communities — while providing value to both the creator(s) and the community as a whole. But at the same time, it also gives the traditional Silicon Valley types the ability to build something new too. Web3 doesn’t discriminate.

I’m working on an NFT project (crypto cackles) right now to bring more laughter, joy, and jokes to the world. I can tell you if I brought this concept to a VC firm on Sand Hill Rd. I’d be laughed out of the room. Pun intended. haha! By building on top of the blockchain, I have the unique ability to build out my idea, grow a community, fund it, and execute on it. And I can do all of this while giving the people who like what I’m building ownership in the entire process. It’s a creator’s dream.

On a separate note, we have a huge underemployment problem in the U.S. and likely around the world, through ownership in web3, creators, entrepreneurs, and others can build out their dreams while compensating themselves (and their supporters). This is magical.

Look I’m not saying every business makes sense in web3 (to be honest, not every business makes sense in the context of web 2 either), but it’s an option for people to consider when building. The adoption from major organizations is good to see, we should all be curious about new technology. Curiosity is human. At least that’s why I’m working the crypto cackles project, I’m extremely curious about web3 and what it has to offer. I’d encourage everyone to experiment, build out a small project, join a DAO, ask questions, learn with us. We’re all learning together right now.

Ultimately this isn’t a zero sum game and we would all be wise to remember that.

These are some of my current favorite web3 resources, projects, and people:

Thanks for reading! If you would like to chat web3 with me, find me on Twitter and Clubhouse.

Originally published at https://www.besttechie.com on December 13, 2021.

Let’s turn back the clocks a bit to July 19 (my birthday!) 2005–that’s when a guy named Pete Cashmore started blogging from his home in Scotland about technology and social media. At the time all this stuff was still relatively new to most people, especially social media. Cashmore capitalized on this new trend, covering new startups and apps, building a following over time. Everything was going well, Cashmore turned the site into a business, generating revenue primarily from display ads. But then in September 2010 something big happened–something that really was the sign of an end of an era for upstart digital media companies: AOL acquired TechCrunch for around $30 to $40 million (note the price, it’s eerily similar today’s Mashable price tag).

I said this back then and I’ll say it again now:

The era of major independent blogs, news sites, etc is coming to an end. Mainstream media and content providers will start to acquire more of these “new media” sites and what is currently new will be old, and what is old will be new. Independent sites will have a much more difficult time competing due to lack of resources, capital, and ability to easily scale.

And it seems I turned out to be pretty spot on.

The next four years were interesting for Mashable as it looked for ways to keep growing, the company started diversifying itself by bringing in new kinds of coverage. The site, which was known mostly for tech and social media coverage was now a giant mess of varying topics from tech to social to entertainment to viral videos to lifestyle to pretty much anything and everything. In my opinion this is when Mashable lost its way, it lost its focus and in an attempt to scale and be everything to everyone, they started what would ultimately be their death spiral.

In 2014 as Cashmore & Co. were continuing to look for ways to be bigger than TechCrunch (and by that I mean, get a sale price much higher) the team apparently decided to take outside investment for the first time. So in March 2014, Mashable raised a $14 million Series A led by Tribune Digital Ventures and so the scale at all costs mission began. Then less than full year later, in January 2015, Mashable raised an additional $17 million Series B round. This investment was earmarked for video content and a push towards creating much more video because advertisers are willing to pay a premium to advertise against video content. And finally, in late March 2016, two years after it took an initial investment of $14 million, Mashable was able to raise an additional $15 million to stay afloat and pray that their video pivot would work (quickly). All-in the company raised $46 million and sold for less than $50 million. Ouch.

The problems at Mashable were fairly simple: too wide a range of content (meaning the audience never really knew what to expect from them), too much jumping from one hot publishing trend to the next (e.g. writing about social media to viral videos to entertainment news to anything that would get a page view), and a pivot to video that came way too late.

As of right now, Mashable has been using this as their mission statement: The leading media company for the connected generation and voice of digital culture.

What does that even mean? Could it be any more broad/general? The company has had an identity problem for years.

It seems Ziff Davis thinks so too. According to the Recode report I read earlier, Ziff Davis plans to keep Mashable running but wants to refocus the company on tech and tech-lifestyle content. Finally, some focus.

I think the story of Mashable is one to learn from: Keep focused when building your product and make sure you perfect one thing before moving onto the next. Additionally, I think the sale price is probably more inline with what the company should actually have been valued and I can’t help but wonder how this will affect other giants in the digital media space such as BuzzFeed, Vox, and Vice in the short and long term. I have a feeling that term sheets may be harder to come by and that more layoffs may be on the way.

Originally published at https://www.besttechie.com/what-went-wrong-at-mashable/ on December 5, 2017.