The current and probable future state of the U.S. economy isn’t good for either the employer or the employee. Most people are familiar with the real estate terms buyers and sellers markets and to create a simple analogy the U.S. job market has transformed from a workers market to an employer’s market. Just six months ago the average American worker would probably consider experience, education, and skills as a weapon for landing the bigger, better, deal (job). In what seems like a blink of an eye the average American worker is now coveting that same resume’ to increase job security instead of utilizing it for greener pastures to graze.

It’s getting to the point to where anyone who has a job is grateful to be employed as we should be; there are a lot of families up against the ropes due to layoffs and there are even more families out there that are one unfortunate event from being there themselves. Along with the altered perception employees have regarding their jobs comes some obvious side effects. First, employers will see significant increases in job retention rates meaning people are a lot less likely to move from job to job (the employees who aren’t laid off). I would also venture to guess that there will be a large drop in employee complaints about work policies, schedules, environment, etc… in an effort to increase job security. Let’s be realistic, you’re going to have to be willing to put up with a lot more B.S. on the job now because there are herds of people who are willing to fill your position without complaining about it. This may sound like a golden situation for employers but it’s not. They may have more loyalty from their workers with less complaining but there are significantly fewer jobs to fill and a lot less money in consumers’ pockets which will continue to kill company profits.

An employer’s defense mechanism is slightly different but with the same ultimate goal, to stay in business (employed). Of course the number one cost for employers is the expense of labor which comes with additional costs of employee benefits (health care, paid time off, pensions, etc…), so it’s easy to see why jobs are usually the first thing to go. How far companies will have to go to stay alive will depend on just how bad the economy gets. It really is a case of survival of the fittest for both employees and employers.

On the extreme side I can see companies streamlining product lines, which means there will likely be a much smaller variety of goods or services to purchase. I’ve worked in the grocery business for well over ten years and have worked for a cookie/cracker company for the better part of the last four of those years. To give an industry specific example companies may be forced to direct their focus to the core items they sell. Due to the Wal-Mart trend of streamlining all levels of business operations to function on the most efficient level, companies have shut down manufacturing facilities forcing more and more products from the dwindling numbers of facilities still operating in an attempt to cut costs. This process has been successful with the growing economy but what happens when the demand for products drops dangerously low? Suddenly the random varieties of products become a burden and companies have to go back to what has always worked, their core items/services. In the cookie and cracker business let’s stop and look at what takes place at the bakeries. The production lines are setup to bake a certain product and once they have baked an adequate supply of that one particular product the entire line shuts down so it can be thoroughly cleaned and prepped for the next product. As they say time is money and every time the lines shut down money is lost due to nothing being produced. Streamlining product lines will allow companies to keep manufacturing lines up and running for longer periods of time without having to shut them down for reconfiguration thus producing more products with less down time.

As we have seen throughout the last several months companies have a multitude of options to keep their doors open but most of them aren’t very appealing. We’ve seen companies shut large numbers of stores down, lay off employees, and file for bankruptcy protection, all of which are worrisome situations. One of the things that really started worrying me was when Home Depot announced they were shutting down a large number of their stores. Anyone who has witnessed the time, money, and labor it takes to erect a Home Depot building knows that it is a serious event to have one shut down.

I suppose I’ve drifted away from the premise of this article a bit so let me step back and ask this question, at this point are you more concerned with job security or the perks of your job (pay, benefits, etc…)? I’m guessing your answer will greatly depend on your experience and the industry you work in but I am curious to see all of the different perspectives and opinions. I look forward to your comments and feel free to participate in the rivalry that was created for this very topic.

We had been talking about a list of concept iPhone apps that would be pretty killer to have. We broke the post down into a couple pages since it was kinda’ long. Without further adieu, here are the next 4 concept apps on the list.

I present to you … THE LIST:
(in no particular order)

Page 1:

1. Blinksale
2. Cigar Aficionado
3. Any Good Wine App
4. Meeting Place

Page 2:

5. Google Analytics
6. Google AdWords
7. Google AdSense
8. Local Event Schedules

Page 3: (coming soon)

9. HSBC
10. Meetup
11. Barrons News
12. Sim City Classic

Concept iPhone App: Google Analytics

By Google - Price: FREE

Why do we need this?

Seriously, how can you NOT need this. I mean - unless you’re not into web stats that is. But if you are in charge of a web property with any kind of significant traffic (especially e-commerce) you can’t deny your addiction to Google Analytics. There is nothing better than boiling your visitors down to little blue dots that you can manipulate with the help of this beautiful thing called Google Analytics. If nothing else, chronically checking Google Analytics is much more productive than minesweeper or solitaire.

Proposed feature set:

• View tons of super sweet graphs
• Landscape mode (if Bloomberg can do it - so can Google)
• E-mail reports

Current App Store alternatives:

• Oracle Business Indicators (??)

Concept iPhone App: Google AdWords

By Google - Price: FREE

Why do we need this?

I don’t mean to get into another rant here but I love stats. The primary difference between chronically checking analytics and chronically checking AdWords, is that you can lose your ass to AdWords if you’re not careful. So I tend to think it’s a bit more responsible. I’m sure Google would find value in extending this level of control to users of its #1 money maker.

Proposed feature set:

• Manage campaigns
• Manage keywords
• Manage settings

Current App Store alternatives:

• Yahoo! Search Marketing… nope
• MSN AdCenter…. nope

Concept iPhone App: Google AdSense

By Google - Price: FREE

Why do we need this?

Among the many other things that people check like they have OCD is Google AdSense. I don’t know if Google would really want a million more hits to their servers from a bunch of bloggers just checking to see if they made $.20 more since the last time they checked. It probably doesn’t help their bottom line anyhow having to pay for more server techs. What would be really cool is if they could push the dollar amount to the home screen icon without even having to open the app (like the calendar that shows the current date).

Proposed feature set:

• Display revenue by date
• Push daily dollars to home screen icon

Current App Store alternatives:

• none… there can be only one

Concept iPhone App: Local Events Schedule

By Anyone - Price: FREE

Why do we need this?

This is the type of app that lends itself to the iPhone platform. Usually people go to their local newspapers for this type of information but actually getting to an event requires planning, and all sorts of other annoying things to do like finding the paper to begin with. This kind of app would bring in all that information and place it around wherever you are. It would be great for promoters to get their information out to a mobile crowd, and great for people who go out right after work.

Proposed feature set:

• Display upcoming events in many categories
• Allow user submitted events
• Allow filtering to try and sort through the noise

Current App Store alternatives:

• LMK if you know of a good one. I’m sure there are many but it’s late and I’d like to go to bed now.

« Back to page 1

Page 3 (coming soon)

Like most iPhone junkies, I cannot stop checking the App Store for updates. I’ve played out all the cool games like Fieldrunners, Blackjack, Bejeweled, Line Rider, Strategic Assault, Lux Touch, and Flashlight. I’ve settled on my core programs like Pandora, Bloomberg, iTrans NYC, BeejiveIM, RTM, AirSharing, and others.

I just can’t want to find the next great App. I understand the App Store is still in its infancy, apps are difficult to monetize, and people are scrambling to get their product out the door even if it’s buggy as hell. But I don’t care - the bottom line is that I’m impatient and so I’ve put together my own fantasy world list of apps that I would like to see. The criteria isn’t extremely objective; some of my apps may seem obvious and for the others I’ll offer up a bit of explanation.

I present to you … THE LIST:
(in no particular order)

Page 1:
1. Blinksale
2. Cigar Aficionado
3. Any Good Wine App
4. Meeting Place

Page 2:

5. Google Analytics
6. Google AdWords
7. Google AdSense
8. Local Event Schedules

Page 3: (coming soon)

9. HSBC
10. Meetup
11. Barrons News
12. Sim City Classic

Concept iPhone App: Blinksale

By Fire Wheel Design - Price: FREE

Why do we need this?

Because having your accounting info on the go is handy. Think about when you’re killing time - might as well keep those names of people who owe you fresh in your memory. You could also email an invoice immediately after presenting the deliverables, or record a payment received when you’re depositing the check at the bank. I suppose the reality of my reasoning behind this app is that I love Blinksale. I love it’s interface, I love it’s simplicity, and I think it deserves an app.

Proposed feature set:

• View all invoices
• Record a payment received
• Create and send an invoice
• Manage clients

Current App Store alternatives:

• Cashboard

Concept iPhone App: Cigar Aficionado

By Cigar Aficionado - Price: FREE (+ subscription version)

Why do we need this?

The last issue of Cigar Aficionado had a ‘top rated’ tear-out that you could bring with you to the cigar store and read about the selection a bit before buying. It was a very nicely designed tear out and fortunately I spent enough time reading it on the can and memorized the ratings and general descriptions of those on the list. My only problem now is that when I go to the store, I have to try and remember what the heck was on that list. If I only had an iPhone app to lower my thinking requirement…

Proposed feature set:

• Top rated cigar list plus…
• …Social commentary
• Upcoming events in my area
• Featured articles from the latest issue
• Order the latest issue or subscribe

Current App Store alternatives:

• NOTHING ?! C’MON

Concept iPhone App: Wine Pro

By Anybody - Price: $14.99

Why do we need this?

There’s a lot that goes into mystifying wine. (ex: Region, varietal, vintage, etc.) What does all that mean anyhow and how can I sort it out? If you drink wine and own an iPhone, chances are you’ve looked at the current offering of apps. I think they all each hit on one of the core features that a good wine app should have, but there isn’t one that just nails it. This app proposes to combine the best of everything.

Proposed feature set:

• Record your wine info (photos, details, rating)
• Research and read descriptions of wines
• Learn definitions and food pairings
• Read and contribute to social commentary
• Check out deals and order bottles
• Stores info locally and remotely
• Accessable via web app

Current App Store alternatives:

• iTasteWine - buy it
• Wine Snob - buy it
• Wine Log buy it
• Wine List - buy it
• Wine Pad 2 - buy it
• Vinoriffic - buy it
• Wine Words - buy it

Concept iPhone App: Meeting Place

By Anybody - Price: $.99

Why do we need this?

To be honest we don’t really NEED this app. It’s a pretty cool idea though you have to admit. Think “meet me near the ______.” The way it would work is fairly simple - just open the app, it get’s your location, and displays the most recognizable landmark (photo + description) by distance from you. In theory, you’d also be able to go to a map interface and find landmarks in a destination area or something. Another problem is that it would be entirely user generated content driven since this information doesn’t likely exist elsewhere. However, once there’s some data in the system, you could let people vote on each landmark.

Proposed feature set:

• Display the most common landmarks near you
• Find landmarks in destination areas
• Contribute photos and descriptions
• Browse through your own “bookmarked” places
• Stores info locally remotely

Current App Store alternatives:

I doubt there’s something like this already. I’m not even going to look into it.

on to page 2 »

Of course utilizing an attorney for your trademark registration is always the safest choice if you have the thousands of dollars to cover the cost. However, I’m willing to bet there are a lot of startups out there that simply can’t afford the added burden to their pocket book. If you’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t afford an attorney this article was written for you and will hopefully provide you with an overview of the entire process of registering a trademark.

Even with the absence of an attorney you still need to be prepared to pay $350.00 - $1,500.00 for the USPTO filing fees. There is a reason the cost can vary so much; it depends on how many classes you need to register. At the time this article was written the fee/charge per class was $325.00 (Please follow the second link below to find the current fee schedule). A class or more specifically classification is used to identify the goods or services that correspond to your trademark/business. Some businesses offer goods or services that can’t be adequately covered by just one class, this is when the costs can really add up. It should also be noted that a trademark can also be considered a service mark depending on the type of business for which the mark is being registered.

Unfortunately, the cost of registering a trademark isn’t the only issue. The fine folks at the USPTO are meticulous with details (for good reason) and offer little room for error. If you make any critical mistakes on your application you may find yourself out of the non-refundable registration/filing fees. Your first step should be to review all of the information USPTO offers on their website. After you feel comfortable with what you’ve reviewed, search their TESS database for similar logos/marks as well as similar names. If there are trademarks that bare similarities I would recommend speaking to an attorney or doing additional research before you continue because this presents additional variables that I did not encounter during my trademark registration.

After you’ve reviewed the information on USPTO.com and made sure there are no similarly registered trademarks, it’s time to do more research. The best advice I can give you is to use the TESS search to find similar businesses and/or websites that have successfully registered their trademarks and review the information they used for their registration. By no means whatsoever am I recommending you copy their information (this would be illegal and more than likely pointless), just use it as a tool to make sure you’re looking in the right direction. I wouldn’t stop with reviewing just one similar businesses trademark, look at several. I would focus on two things while doing your research. First, pay close attention to the writing style of the descriptions keeping an eye out for specific terminology and look at the way the description is phrased; if their trademark was approved they must have done it right. Secondly, you can use similar businesses to help narrow down an appropriate class or classes for your application.

There are two basic formats for trademark registration; standard character and stylized. The standard character format is for the registration of words alone, with no claim to any special font or designs. The standard character format was used when registering, “disagreeing has never been so much fun” - JealousBrother.com’s slogan. The stylized format is what was used for the JealousBrother.com name/logo due to the uniqueness of the logo’s design and the fact that there were special fonts and illustrations claimed as a part of the trademark. The latter is obviously much more difficult to register due to the scrupulous detail required to satisfy the requirements set by the USPTO. If your trademark requires a stylized registration I strongly suggest going the extra mile when writing the description of the mark. In my opinion it is better to cover all of your bases with a lot of detail rather than being too lax with your description leaving room for questions.

If you’re like me then you would probably expect a pretty quick turnaround after forking out hundreds of dollars to register your trademark; think again. I’m sure the USPTO is very busy and the type of data they handle is very detailed and extremely important to many individuals and companies alike. However, I was pretty shocked when I found out the timeline was three to six months before an examining attorney would even look at my application. It took roughly two and a half months for an examining attorney to look at our application. It is also estimated that the entire process from filing to final registration will take between thirteen and sixteen months. When you file without an attorney this can be a pretty painful and worrisome wait; wondering if everything was submitted correctly.

After your application is reviewed by the attorney he/she will give you an approval or denial for the official publication of the USPTO gazette. If approved you will eventually be provided a date your trademark will be published, at which point there will be a waiting period of 30 days. During this time anyone who has reason to oppose the registration of your trademark has the right to contact the USPTO. I guess a good analogy would be speak now or forever hold your peace.

After patiently waiting over five and a half months the day finally came, our logo was published in the official Gazette. If there was one thing I learned up to this point it was that I should never expect anything to happen overnight with the USPTO. Thirty days of patience came and went and so did another two months before I heard anything. I guess I expected the USPTO to throw me a congratulatory party in recognition of my trademarked achievement but they didn’t. Actually, I didn’t even get an email, I found out our trademark had been finalized by checking the status on the USPTO website. Either way it is a good feeling to know 252 days of my life did not go to waste. I did eventually receive a nice certificate of registration from the USPTO which will be framed and placed in my office as a reminder of the completion of this difficult task. I hope this article helps shed some light on what to expect as you embark on a critical yet time consuming journey of registering a trademark.

Marc is the proud father of three girls, of the two oldest, one is in college and the other is in high school. The only reason I mention this is because its being a father of teenage girls (likely the same for boys as well) that sparked the debate into whether or not it’s acceptable for a father to have a Facebook page. I won’t cover the whole discussion but let’s just say his daughters cringed in embarrassment (slightly disappointed) at the very mention of their dad setting up a Facebook page, even if it was just to see pictures from his High School reunion. This was a little bit concerning to me being the owner of a social network that doesn’t just discuss high school related issues but tackles issues pertinent to an older crowd as well. So here is the question at hand, is there a stigma associated with adults or more specifically parents who participate in social networks? I hope not.

Sadly enough the graph resembles water slides at Dollywood Splash Country (East Tennessee Water Park). This is not encouraging news for website owners like me. The graph covers three of the more popular social networks but it should be noted that until recently Facebook only allowed users with student email addresses, so this may be to blame for their water slide demographic but what about the others? So what is it that keeps adults over the age of 36 from participating on social networks? Is it an embarrassing stigma, a lack of experience with computers, the abundance of young users, or just the overall lack of interest? I’m going to guess and say it’s a bit of everything. Throughout my life I have lived by many mottos but one more than others, “when in doubt - just ask mom” so that is exactly what I did. I asked mom what kept her and other people over the age of 36 from participating in social networks. Here is what my mother had to say:

“I believe that many older people don’t use social networks mostly because they are too complicated. Most of us middle aged and older people have learned basic computer skills but we’ve had to learn them later in life. I think this does create some limits for many of us. I am determined to overcome my fear of the internet and all it entails but I have to go slowly or I feel overwhelmed.

JealousBrother.com was the first social network I’ve actually been able to sign up for and navigate around without any help. I feel like I’ve taken a big step towards overcoming some of my “internet fear” and have found that I really enjoy going on there to see what other people are saying about today’s issues and giving my opinion as well.

I urge my fellow middle aged and older people to take a deep breath and jump in to JealousBrother.com. It’s easy to sign up and get around in and it’s fun.”

I don’t think it’s impossible for a social network to be more welcoming to people of all ages, not to do a shameless self promotion but JealousBrother.com covers topics that should interest teenagers all the way up to retirees. With rivalries stretching from texting versus emailing to the statue of David versus the Mona Lisa, it’s easy to see why people of any age bracket could find something to participate in and if you don’t see something you like, add your ideas and opinions to the website by starting your own rivalry.

In addition to the fear of not knowing how to get around mentioned by my mother, I think there is a definite stigma associated with most social networks and we should all understand why Marc’s daughters would be embarrassed if their dad set up a Facebook page. However, Facebook has always been aimed at a younger crowd until recently when they opened it up to everyone. It would be easy to get intimidated by a website that is absolutely dominated by a younger population. JealousBrother is different, we’re a very new website, everyone is invited to participate, and the website is very easy to navigate. Throughout the fifteen plus months of development (still in development), ease of use was always one of our biggest priorities. JealousBrother currently has over 130 users (growing daily) from nearly every age bracket, including my wife’s grandfather of 73 who is very active on the website.

If the stigma exists, is it there for good? I’m attempting to stay optimistic by saying I think it can in part be lifted from society’s perception but likely will not be completely chalked off. There are far too many negatives because of a small number of people out there that create these unattractive opinions of social networks through inappropriate content and unbelievable behavior. The stigma may be a difficult thing to compete with but it is still possible to broaden the age diversity through individual efforts and social networks that accommodate users of all ages. So everyone out there, reassure your parents and grandparents that there’s nothing wrong with joining a social network, spend a few minutes each week teaching them how to use the computer, inform them that JealousBrother isn’t just for kids and is easy to use, and hopefully any lack of interest they had before will now be alleviated.

After months of amazing blog entries mom’s traffic was almost nonexistent. On multiple occasions I had tried to convince her how important it was to get inovled with networking sites to help increase the traffic to her blog. She loved doing the crafts but couldn’t find the motivation to put the time needed into marketing her website. (In her defense she does have dial up, high speed is not available) We tried running an adwords campaign and she had some limited involvement in BlogCatalog.com but we couldn’t get her traffic beyond a few hundred impressions per day and those were high days. With me being so preoccupied attempting to market my own website it was difficult to find any time to help mom with hers.

After spending about a month and a half stumbling, digging, and blogging, JealousBrother began showing some promising results. It was at this point I decided to make one last effort to express to mom just how important social networking is to a successful website. I decided to send one of her recent Halloween craft project (Spooky Halloween Ghosts) to about twenty friends of mine on Stumbleupon. I wanted to prove to mom that with a little bit of work she could drive some significant traffic to her site. After sharing her website with friends I expected to call mom up and say, see I told you networking can be beneficial, you have 250 impressions today. What I didn’t expect was a big glass of irony to be served up. After a month and a half of marketing my website, even using my entire vacation to do so, I was dumbfounded by what happened. As I checked mom’s adsense account around nine in the morning I couldn’t believe what I saw, 1600 impressions. When it was all said and done, Not2Crafty.com received nearly 7 thousand page impressions the same day it was shared on SU. Even more surprising it received just over 6 thousand the next day with 1200 the day after that. The irony comes into play when you realize at that point JealousBrother had never exceeded the two thousand page impression mark.

I of course have a lot invested in our website but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy for mom. She deserves any and all success she achieves, not just because of the hard work she puts into her website but for putting up with me through all of my troubled teenage years. SU helped me reach my goal, I wanted to express to mom just how important networking is and SU opened a giant can of worms. I think she got the point. Do any of you have an interesting SU story? I’d love to hear them.

When you consider parents are the primary source for a child’s perception of what is right and wrong, the attitude a child has in regards to school and work, and of course are the single biggest motivators a child has, could there be a connection to their eventual blogging skills? As much as I’d like to at times there is no denying the similarities of my father and I. They are not all negative attributes, in fact I have a work ethic that is a spitting image of his and that has helped not only at work but also at school, projects around the house, and of course my hobbies. My mother is to thank for my creativity but also for my large nose, thanks mom!

The question we need to ask is what makes a good blog entry? The first thing that comes to mind is that it should be written well, at least to the best of our abilities. What does that mean? It means a good entry should not be a first draft, just like school papers it should be spell checked and revised multiple times before it’s published. Unless you want people bouncing off your blog, each article should be interesting. This is where the creativity comes into play. The information should be so entertaining or informational that the visitors want to get involved and, once they do get involved, you need to interact with them.

The reality is that most of us are painfully similar to our parents, which is a direct reflection of how we’ve been raised. Everything from creativity, confidence, social tendencies, to ethics and morals can be directly correlated with the way we were brought up. We can certainly relate all of these traits to what it takes to create a good blog entry. A blog post must be creative and we must possess the confidence to run with the idea. For a blog to be morally sound we shouldn’t post material that has been stolen or anything we don’t have the right to use. It is our work ethic that pushes us through from the conception of an idea to the finished product. We also have to be comfortable in a socially driven environment so we can easily communicate with people who interact with the blog. So you tell me, should our parents be held accountable for our blogging skills?

Obviously our parents can’t take all of the responsibility for our blogging skills but certainly should be held partially accountable. It’s our parents who help mold us into who we become. So parents and future parents out there, when little Billy or Jane is playing with an imaginary friend, don’t discourage them, at least they are using their imagination. Creativity wouldn’t exist without a solid imagination. Creativity is a universal character trait; it can lead to success in starting a business, acing a college exam, or even writing some great blog entries. Be alert and be open minded, little Billy’s blogging career could be in your hands. If for whatever reasons you didn’t enjoy this article or you just don’t like me I politely ask that all problems be directed towards my parents, in these cases, my parents are to blame.

If you’ve ever been to Panera Bread you know a couple of things to be true, great food and one of the only remaining companies to still offer free wifi internet. It was just a typical Thursday for me, nothing out of the norm. I worked my first delivery of the day and then stopped off at Panera to grab some breakfast, check my email, and check in with the website. As I was waiting for my buzzer to go off so I could pick up my delicious breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg, and cheese) I began hearing what started off as a bit of an annoying conversation between two women a couple tables away from me.

I was so preoccupied with listening to their conversation that my buzzer startled me when it vibrated on the table. After grabbing my breakfast I rushed back to my table so I could continue eavesdropping on the conversation between the two women. What started as a bit annoying actually became very entertaining; obviously two friends who were calmly disagreeing about everything from the presidential race to health care. There were a couple of moments where I actually couldn’t hold back a smile from being amused by the dialogue. One of the ladies hopped up to get something across the restaurant while the other women made eye contact with me. I took this opportunity to express how much I was enjoying listening to their conversation. The other women returned to the table happily including me in the political debate. It was a lot of fun to discuss current issues with these women; both of them had some great points and were obviously intelligent. For me nothing is more entertaining than having an intellectual conversation with people who have opposing views, so long as it doesn’t get too heated.

You may ask what is so enlightening about two women bickering over politics, trust me I have a point. About half way into their conversation I found myself realizing, holy crap; this is what JealousBrother.com is all about. Here we have two people with completely different points of view and they are managing to calmly discuss things they are passionate about. These types of conversations undoubtedly take place across the country and the world. What if all of these passionate yet argumentative individuals actually knew JealousBrother.com existed and that they could argue and discuss politics, sports, news, or any other topic in a fun and interactive way with not just one friend but hundreds and hopefully thousands of other people? It was these women who motivated me to start one of the newer rivalries, privatized health care versus socialized health care. As I was leaving Panera I stopped for another small dose of friendly debate. Before I headed out the door I explained that I was the owner of a website called JealousBrother.com and that their conversation motivated me to start a rivalry on the website.

Anyone who has attempted to start a blog or website knows the frustration that can set in as you attempt to drive traffic in the direction of your site. For me, it is this event along with countless others that help me stay focused with my eye on the goal. Do any of you have an enlightening story that helped keep you focused? I’d love to hear them.

Ryan Kazinec

I’ve heard there’s a first time for everything and that has become an expression that occurs almost daily in my life. Throughout the entire process of making JealousBrother.com a reality it seems like I’ve ran into one obstacle after another. When everything you encounter is new it can be challenging, especially when you’re faced with tasks like leasing a server, registering a trademark, and choosing a web developer. If I’m being honest the toughest task I have faced so far is the one I’m still trying to get a feel for, marketing/social networking.

It’s not enough to have a professionally designed website with a creative concept. A great website without traffic is like owning a Ferrari that never leaves the garage. It’s real pretty and powerful but no one gets to enjoy it. The only real difference is that I wouldn’t want anyone driving my Ferrari while on the other hand I want as many people as possible to enjoy our website. So how do I drive traffic to our website? That is the question I have been constantly asking myself for the last month.

Before you get your hopes up I don’t have the answer as of yet, I’m still searching. However, I have learned a lot along the way. There are so many great resources to meet new people and to market your website. I have been playing around with several social networks, including StumbleUpon, Digg, and Blog Catalog to name a few. All three website are completely different, StumbleUpon is used to discover and share websites, images, and videos. Digg’s primary focus is news, but this can be a multitude of everything from videos, websites, or actual news stories. Blog Catalog is a great website to promote, share, and read about blogs and websites.

Rather than diving into great detail about my likes and dislikes of each of the three social networks I’m going to focus on the biggest similarities, genuine people and the pay it forward state of mind. The one thing I am a lot more conscious of is the fact that networking online is not very different from networking in real life. As a society we don’t like being bombarded with pushy sales or fake people. If you’re planning on marketing your website by sending out spammy messages and attempting to friend as many people as you can, you more than likely won’t get very far.

What happens when you politely ask a new neighbor if you can borrow some sugar? Unless they’re rude unsocial people they’ll kindly give you some sugar. After that first contact your new neighbor will likely be more apt to wave at you as you pass by and may even feel comfortable asking you for a favor down the road. Now, what would happen if instead of politely asking to borrow some sugar you show up pounding on their door demanding a bag of sugar? As nice as your neighbor might be, they’ll probably tell you to go F&*% yourself. Just like the real world online friendships/relationships aren’t built in a split second, it takes time to feel each other out and to build a little bit of trust.

So how do you politely knock on a potential new friend’s online door instead of beating it down? It is so very simple, you need to care. Anyone can come up with a load of bs and shovel it into a comment or shout. If you want to truly make connections and friendships you need to actually care about what you are reading. The law of reciprocity claims that visiting some else’s blog/website will result in them visiting yours. Just dropping by a blog may invoke someone to take a quick look at yours but what good is a quick look? What you really want is someone coming back, getting involved, and enjoying their visits. Being genuine will produce far fewer friends/connections but those that you make will be much more likely to actually want to help you.

I know there is a lot more to learn and everyone has their own approach to networking their blogs/websites but I am having a great time actually getting to know what I’m reading, if that makes any sense. I know from previous research that there are plenty of different views and goals with some people even claiming that you don’t really want people to stick around your site if you’re looking for clicks (advertising dollars) but that’s not the approach I’m looking to take. With JealousBrother.com, sure we want to make money but more importantly we want loyal users who keep coming back to have a good time and to speak their mind.

Ryan Kazinec

Ideally, an attorney should handle your trademark registration. Unfortunately money doesn’t grow on trees so your only option may be to register the trademark on your own. Even if you complete this task on your own be prepared to pay between $350.00 - $1,500.00 for the USPTO filing fees. There is a reason the cost can vary so much; it depends on how many classes/categories you need to register. At the time this article was written the fee/charge per class/category was $325.00 (Please follow the second link below to find the current fee schedule). As you can see, at $325.00 registering a trademark can get very pricey. It should also be noted that a trademark can also be considered a service mark depending on the type of business for which the mark is being registered.
USPTO Links:

USPTO Home Page

Fee Schedule

Unfortunately, the cost of registering a trademark isn’t the only roadblock. The fine folks at the USPTO are meticulous with details (for good reason) and offer little room for error. If you make any critical mistakes on your application you may find yourself out of the non-refundable registration fees. Your first step should be to review all the information USPTO offers on their website. After you feel comfortable with what you’ve reviewed, search their tess database for similar logos/marks as well as similar names. If there are trademarks that bare similarities I would recommend speaking to an attorney before you continue.

After you’ve reviewed the information on USPTO.com and made sure there are no similarly registered trademarks, it’s time to do more homework. The best advice I can give you is to find similar businesses and/or websites that have successfully registered their trademarks and review the information they used for their registration. By no means whatsoever am I recommending you copy their information (this would be illegal), just use it as tool to make sure you’re looking in the right direction for the correct class/category as well as what the trademark office is looking for in a description.

There are two basic formats for trademark registration; standard character and stylized. The standard character format is for the registration of words alone, with no claim to any special font or designs. The stylized format is what was used for JealousBrother.com due to the uniqueness of the logos design and the fact that there were special fonts and illustrations claimed as a part of the trademark. The latter is obviously much more difficult to register due to the scrupulous detail required to satisfy the requirements set by the USPTO.

If you’re like me then you would probably expect a pretty quick turnaround after forking out hundreds of dollars to register your trademark; think again. I’m sure the USPTO is very busy and the type of data they handle is very detailed and extremely important to many individuals and companies alike. However, I was pretty shocked when I found out the timeline was three to six months before an examining attorney would even look at my application. It is also estimated that the entire process from filing to final registration will take between thirteen and sixteen months. When you file without an attorney this can be a pretty painful and worrisome wait; wondering if everything was submitted correctly.

After your application is reviewed by the attorney he/she will give you an approval or denial for the official publication of the USPTO gazette. If approved you will eventually be provided a date your trademark will be published. At which point there will be a waiting period of 30 days. During this time anyone who has reason to oppose the registration of your trademark has the right to contact the USPTO. I guess a good analogy would be speak now or forever hold your peace.

More to come…