Justin Dawkins

Updates from May, 2010

• 

  Projects, Playoffs, and a Pivot

  Justin 12:46 am on May 29, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: atlanta (2), internet marketing (2), jdot, Social Media (4), social media marketing, startups

  It’s hard to believe that we are just a couple of days from moving into the hot, sweltering days of Summer in Atlanta. With June just around the corner, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to send a quick note with some updates on me and the projects you (may) know I work on.

  Social Saints — my baby
  If you didn’t already know Social Saints is the marketing technology consultancy I started in 2008. Over the past two years (without a website believe it or not) we’ve been able to secure some great clients and really explore our service offerings to see what the Kingdom needs. We are now set to launch or web presence in the next few weeks and really take our position as a premier marketing consultancy for the faith-based sector.

  As of now we’ve got a couple of clients under our belts with a few more in the pipeline. Currently we’re working on themichalemahaffeyproject.com [or mikethroughmusic.com] and Batiste Music . The Michael Mahaffey Project is a new, multi-dimensional gospel performance by Michael Mahaffey. Though I can’t disclose any major details, I can say that Mike’s performance will give you some additional perspective and send you on a journey through sacrifice, service and triumph. I’m excited to see the finished product and I’ll let you know when the site is ready so that you can all purchase tickets [Atlanta, Georgia - September 2010].

  As far as Batiste, we’re still working out the details but to date, Socials Saints will create a layered social media campaign leveraging their various networking, fans, and contacts. The plan is to allow people to get to know Batiste more while generating awareness for their music and performances. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know when some of our work “goes live.”

  A Couple of New Projects and a Pivot
  Let me start with the pivot. We recently celebrated our 10,000th user on DIGITALGUESTLIST and so with that milestone behind us, Joe and I decided to take a look at what DGL has to offer and make some adjustments. Thought I can’t talk too much about it yet, we are currently reviewing some changes to the DIGITALGUESTLIST platform. A UI change, feature simplification and a new approach for platform users and marketers will totally change the benefits and utility of DGL. Stay tuned over the next few months.

  In addition to my Social Saints clients and a DGL pivot, I’m also in the process of starting two new start-ups. Both of them are tech start-ups and in my honest, but biased opinion are both game changers. One will focus on a new way to foster conversations about your favorite online content with friends, while the other focuses on providing small businesses with a new way to connect with their customers. I know, I know my descriptions are vague, but within the next few months it will all makes sense.

  Well that’s all I wanted to say for now. Forgive me for my vagueness but I will share more with everyone soon! Until then be blessed and be safe

  -Justin

  Oh and to make the title of this post relevant… yes I am a NBA fan and I’ll be watching the Celtics and Lakers play over the next two weeks! If you want to link up and watch (and live in the Atlanta area) let me know.

 

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• 

  5 Reasons Why I'll Continue To Use UberTwitter

  Justin 3:07 am on April 21, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blackberry, twitter, ubertwitter

  A few nights ago I took a few minutes to download the official Twitter for Blackberry client and my initial thought was; “Wow! This is nice!” I immediately found appreciation in the; super fast connectivity, direct message integration and the beautiful user interface. To simply put it, the official client is slick… real slick.

  While these 3 benefits are nice, I must say that the official Twitter Blackberry app is missing a few things. First let me clarify something. For the average user the official app is great but as a power user I decided I need a bit more. I put together a quick list of reasons why I’ll still use Uber Twitter.

  1. Classic Retweet – Twitter’s explanation about how and why the chose to build the official retweet function makes complete sense to me but it’s not flexible enough. I prefer having the ability to create some commentary surrounding the message as a way to express myself and classic retweeting gives me that option. What would be great is a way to mention a particular message so that users can continue to include commentary around the original tweet.

  2. The Uber Bar – This is a GREAT feature from Uber Twitter and I’ve come to appreciate its utility. Essentially the Uber Bar is a universal book-marking system that allows you to quickly access users from an auto-expanding navigation bar at the top of the application. This is great for quickly accessing your friend or favorite brand’s tweets.

  3. Multiple Accounts – This is pretty self-explanatory. Uber Twitter supports quick access to multiple accounts while the official Twitter application doesn’t. The lack of support isn’t a big deal to most users but for brand managers it’s a drag. I guess the one upside is that you can’t accidentally send brand tweets from your personal account or even worst sending personal tweets to your brand followers… Yikes!

  4. Font Options – Though the official client gives you the ability to change the font size and family, I personally would like more options. UberTwitter gives you the ability to edit the font size and family for consumption and creation. I prefer a slightly larger font when I’m creating a tweet, while enjoying the extra real estate when reading tweets.

  5. Photo Sharing Options – Uber Twitter gives users a few options for photo sharing while Twitter only integrates TwitPic. Though it gets the job done I have an account with TweetPhoto so the integration Uber Twitter has works really well!

  That’s about it. I hope that this is helpful but I’d love to hear what you think. What Twitter application do you use on your Blackberry and why?

 
• 

  Prediction: Google will roll Aardvark into Buzz

  Justin 12:10 am on April 2, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: aardvark, buzz, gmail, google

  Trying to see the future is good for the imagination and spurring innovation but in my personal opinion isn’t very fun. Furthermore, predicting what a large, highly innovative company with deep pockets will do next either requires some sort of magic eight ball or a knack for making really good guesses. Since I possess none of the above I tend not to participate in making predictions but with Google’s recent moves I thought I’d give it a shot.

  With the recent acquisition of Aardvark and the release of Buzz, Google is adding an additional approach to its social media technology strategy. By adding the “put Google anywhere” model (think Google FriendConnect) with tools that draw users back into their existing products to consume content (Google Buzz) Google is looking to cover a lot of ground in the social media space.

  Now with Aardvark under the umbrella I have a feeling things could get really interesting. Here’s 5 reasons why I believe Google will roll Aardvark into Buzz.

  1. Access to friends – one of the greatest and meaningful features of Aardvark is that you can get answers to any question from anyone and you don’t even have to know them. Heck your social graphs don’t even have to come close to one another. However, I believe that every once in awhile you want answers from your friends or at least the colleagues you respect or have a rapport with. Integrating Aardvark into Buzz will give users the best of both worlds.
  2. Relevance – Another strong point of Aardvark is the way it matches questions to those who have expressed knowledge or expertise in the particular subject matter. Using this “classification” will allow any Buzz user to wear a hat of expertise and offer their knowledge to others.
  3. Access to answers (and questions) – Google at its core, is about search and since Aardvark is about questions I believe it’s safe to assume that the new acquisition is about searching for relevant answers to ANY question.
  4. User experience – I believe a fusion of Buzz and Aardvark would make a powerful and extremely useful tool for users. Being able to ask a question, review responses and derive answers in one place will make Buzz a contextual king and ultimately drive more accuracy and relevance for its search results.
  5. Where else would they want to put it? – This is my most straight forward prediction. Simply put, aside from renaming Aardvark “Google Ask” or “Google Answer” I can’t imagine where else they would put it and maintain a high level accessibility. Keeping it as a standalone product isn’t a bad idea but providing results (answers) within a familiar system just seems more appropriate.

  Look I’m not expert and to be honest all of my reasons are shots in the dark. For all I know Google may keep Aardvark exactly the way it is, though history tells us differently. I just thought I’d take a shot, now let’s sit back and watch. Actually… Let’s take cue from Aardvark and ask a question. What do you think?

 
• 

  Bored? Gomodo helps you quickly find something to do!

  Justin 8:32 pm on November 22, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: #asw3, atlanta seminars (2), Entrepreneurship (3), gomodo, gomodo.me, GPS, mobile, Technology (2), venture, web applications

  So it’s around 9pm on a Thursday evening and the movie 2012 just let out. The problem is you left the house with incomplete plans for the evening, so you ask yourself; “What should I do now?” This is a problem that plagues us all, and an even bigger problem for groups. Enter Gomodo!

  Gomodo is a location aware web application that helps you quickly find things to do near you. Essentially Gomodo gives you a list of events near you based on the GPS location of your mobile device. Simple right?

  Gomodo was designed and developed during Startup Weekend in Atlanta! The concept behind Gomodo came from one of our co-founders Jay Cuthrell, when he explained how he sometimes leaves the house without anything to do, but knows he wants to do something. After debating back and forth on how to solve the problem Jay, Clay and I decided to build what is now Gomodo. The team is a really solid group with a long history in the internet and startup space, so I’m confident that we can continue to mold Gomodo into something useful and fun!

  At the time of this post Gomodo is designed to work best on the iPhone (or iPod touch), with a very simple web version available for others. If you’re on a blackberry, don’t worry, we’re working on a solution for you too! The team is currently tossing around some additional ideas while expanding the search nationwide (sorry only available in the U.S…. for now) so give it a try and tell us what you think. If Gomodo helps you find something fun to do, tell them Gomodo sent you!

  -Enjoy

 
• 

  3 reasons I would love to see you on Friday (11/20)

  Justin 9:35 pm on November 17, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: christians, events, professional networking, Social Saints (2)

  2 minute video on why we organized Savvy.Social.Saved!

  ---

  Event Details
  Savvy.Social.Saved
  Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
  Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
  Location: The Archive Art Gallery
  Street: 583 Juniper Street Atlanta
  City/Town: Atlanta, GA

 
• 

  A few changes coming soon

  Justin 12:56 am on September 14, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: marketing technology, new site, social technology, updates

  Well it’s been a while and the only reason I haven’t posted anything before now is because I’ve been busy working on a new version of my site. It will be my first design change in over 2 years. It’s simply just time. What you will see is my portfolio work, my projects and the technology I build come to the front, while my writings take a back seat for now. I will continue to write of course but not as often. I also plan to focus more on marketing technology, social technologies and some of the other things I’ve worked on in the past year or so. I hope you like it and thanks for checking back in!

 
• 

  Where's Justin? [Part 1]

  Justin 2:57 pm on April 15, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: justin, update

  I really only have one word to describe just how good God has been, and that is AMAZING! I’ve been through so much the first quarter of 2009, some great, and others not so good, but I’m blessed all the same.

  I wanted to write to everyone to let you know what’s going on with me. It’s quite a long update so I’m going to break it down into parts starting with Social Saints (founded last fall)!

  Social Saints

  
  

  The story behind Social Saints

  In the winter of 2007 I started a very long conversation with God about my purpose and what he would have me to do. After months of prayer and dialogue I received my answer. Simply put God wants me to use my talents to empower others. Since I’ve always considered myself a God Fearing Internet Marketer, I decided to combine those two truths into something more real. The result is an internet marketing consultancy designed to assist faith-based organizations and non-profits in the development of strong, relationship-oriented, online communities.

  What Social Saints has to offer

  Technology Solutions – We can assist your non-profit or faith-based organization in the development of a facebook application, adding social technologies to existing websites and applications, email marketing campaign development, CRM and membership management software integration and so much more!

  Social Media Consulting – We can show you how to turn your social capital  into solid relationships. Wondering how to use Facebook, MySpace or Twitter to promote your ministry, cause or message effectively? That’s what Social Saints is here to do!

  Marketing Technologies Education – We believe in building self-sustaining organizations, so we don’t just consult and build, we also educate. We follow and believe in a train the trainer educational model, so your organization can learn how to use the internet effectively for your message and/or ministries.

  You can join the discussion and find out more on Facebook, and Twitter!

 
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  e101 and hopefully answers to your questions, Coming Soon

  Justin 11:20 pm on February 10, 2008 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: atlanta seminars (2), dre barnes, e101, Internet Marketing (5), local e-marketing seminars, Social Media (4)

  Hello all. I just wanted to let everyone know that starting in March Dre Barnes, and I, will begin to give seminars and workshops on e-Marketing. If you own a small to mid-sized business, or just want to know what e-marketing is all about, then this is the event for you. We will start with the basics, and hopefully will be able to answer all of your questions about; e-mail marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media, web analytics and much more. I will give everyone details and an update on registration (Yes! You must register to attend). If anyone who is planning to attend has any preliminary question, please email me at events [at] bbigonline.com

  *Updated 2/24/2008
  You can now register for e101 by clicking the link below.
  http://bbigonline.com/ignite/events/e101

 
• 

  This is what my parent's need!

  Justin 3:53 pm on December 23, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: table-top computing, the future of computing, too cool

  Ok I just thought I would share something I found while digging around the web this afternoon. Tell me that this doesn’t rock! This is what I want for Christmas next year.

  Desktop Computing… literally!

  Let me know what you think!
  -Justin

 
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  UPDATED: Black People Don't Read

  Justin 10:26 pm on October 29, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Black People (2), people, Reading (2), Technology (2), web 2.0

  As you may recall, I recently wrote a post about the observation that black people don’t read and unfortunately, to some degree it’s true. Though I remain optimistic about this observation, and would hope that this will change, I must admit that I didn’t necessarily supply a solution. Well have no fear, a solution is here. A friend of mine sent me a link to a pretty cool website and to be honest, I think it is a great tool to use for someone looking to make reading a more social event. Shelfari.com is a website that allows you to share books that you have enjoyed reading with others, particularly your friends or people within your network. The other cool thing is that it allows you to recommend books to your friends, which brings the traditional “book club” element online. Of course the service allow you to search by author, ISBN, or subject, but you can also search for subject matter in a huge tag cloud which are very useful and creative web 2.0 element. This cloud also allows you to see what other people find interesting and maybe spark you interest enough to see what all the fuss is about. My initial reaction is this service is great and hopefully will be the start of something bigger. Of course this is just my opinion, why don’t you check it out, and come back and tell me what you think.

  -Justin