Lijit

When I first got to know Stan James (Lijit’s Founder), we had a great conversation about a conference called Gnomdex in Seattle. I thought I had heard of such a conference in my startup days out in San Francisco, and sure enough I had.

In the late 1990s, I worked at a startup in Emeryville, CA. While there, several of the developers received an email from a guy named Chris Pirillo, and wished they could attend a conference in the corn fields of Iowa. It was called Gnomedex.

Lijit was a sponsor of the conference in 2007, and last year I attended. It was an amazing conference. Probably one of my favorite of the year because of Chris’ curation of speakers (including the guy that drove the Mars Rover!) and the community interaction of the attendees.

As I laid out my wishlist for conferences to speak at in 2009, Gnomedex was high on the list. Over the course of the year, Chris and I became better friends, and I was honored to be asked to speak at Gnomedex 2009. Talking about the impact blogging and community have had on my life (The presentation was entitled “How to be Awesome…er”) I really enjoyed speaking in front of the Gnomedex attendees, both in there and virtually.

Here are my presentation slides:

As always, it was great to connect with current and future Lijit publishers. Gnomedex has been a great measure of Lijit’s growth. In 2007 and 2008, we were the new kids, and most of the conversations I had about Lijit were filled with explanations of what we do, and why its interesting. Now, with our strong feature set and new monetization options, the conversations are much more focused on how to work together.

If you have a short list of conferences, please put Gnomedex on the list. Its an amazing conference, on par with SXSW (except without the size and craziness), and is the only conference that I lament missing sessions.

Cant wait for Gnomedex 2010!

This past weekend, Lijit was proud to be one of the sponsors for the ongoing Chicks Who Click conference series. San Jose, or to be more specific-downtown Palo Alto, was the setting for this installment of the (mostly) female gathering of those involved in social media and working in the tech industry.

There was a panel featuring Aubrey Sabala of Digg, Margaret Stewart of YouTube and Meagan Marks from Facebook. These three incredibly smart women talked about how they’ve trailblazed their way to fantastic careers by carving out roles for themselves that cater to their strengths. One of the key take-aways from this panel was the notion of “intelligent risk-taking” and that if an opportunity scares you, then it’s probably exactly what you need to be doing.

I spoke on a panel about being a woman involved with a tech startup. (There I am, in the middle, talking with my hands yet again.) Emily Olson of the delicious Foodzie and Suzanne Xie of the stylish Weardrobe joined me as we discussed the different challenges we’ve faced as being part of early-stage tech companies. Suzanne brought up the point that her background is in finance and coming from that kind of workplace, tech seems very open to women. Both Emily and I agreed that being female has helped with marketing our companies in both online and offline communities. A point that resonated with the audience is that if you’re going to have women users, it can be beneficial to have a female voice or face to assist with tech support or new customer outreach.

In case you haven’t experienced it, there really is a kind of magic that happens when you get a roomful of women (and a few men) together, talking about collaboration, connection and how tech can play an important part in building a business. Women of all ages shared stories of how they found jobs on Twitter, used Facebook to get the word out about their startup or formed relationships with major brands all because of their blog. It was an inspiring day, full of shared knowledge and newly-formed friendships. I’m grateful that Lijit was able to help make it happen.

Last month, we launched a contest to find a great Lijit story. We did so to hear what our publishers had to say about us. And it turns out…they have lots to say and many different ways of saying it. (Also? Some only entered to get a free shirt–which tells you a lot about our shirts!) From the humorous to the ethereal to the very concise, the contest entries really spanned the spectrum. After wading through all the posts and getting most of the company to weigh in, we are proud to announce that we have chosen a winner.

Before I announce that winner, some comments about the entry that was deemed most Lijit…

“Everyone loves a video…”

“How can you beat screencast explanations?”

“She rocked that shit.”

“With a name like Keller, how can it not be good?” (contributed by a certain someone named Keller in our office)

With much excitement and an imaginary drumroll, I present the winner of our Lijit storytelling contest…

Keller has put together a fantastic summary of our service, covering everything from the value she gets from using Lijit on her blog (and how we help her blog readers) to how you go about installing Lijit on your blog. She even went so far as to add video screencasts to her post.

You can read her Kindle-worthy post here and be sure to leave a congratulatory comment.

So, to Keller, we say thank you. You are the winner and your Kindle will be in the mail to you on Monday. Enjoy, thanks for using Lijit and know that you have our undying love. (As promised in the fine print of the contest specifics…)

Many thanks, also, to everyone that took the time to enter our contest. It’s publishers like y’all that make it fun to come to work. Your Lijit t-shirts will look great on you.

Perry came to us from a corporate setting but we don’t hold that against him. As soon as he wheeled his bike into the office, we knew it was a good fit. Of course the fact that he can keep up with most of the cyclists in the office also wins him points all around. From his casual demeanor (he loves wearing old-school Vans with no socks) to his good humor, Perry has been a most welcome addition around Lijit.

Perry’s official title is VP of Market Development, but since he seems to know everyone in Boulder, we also like to call him the Jaunty Man about Town. And don’t even get him started about his glory days in the 90’s when he rode mountain bikes with Dan Cortese or hung out backstage with Perry Farrell (who, believe it or not, shares the same first name. OMG.) Fortunately, Perry agreed to take some time out of his busy schedule to allow us a peek into his psyche.

What is your Lijit contribution?

A muddy bike in a no-bikes allowed building… I have worked for large and small companies - I like to believe that I bring the best perspective/practices from each (and left the shite at the door…well, mostly).

What is your least favorite sound and why?

The sound of a frisbee banging into a car. For any of you who have played the game, you will know EXACTLY what I am talking about. When I was a kid, we used to play frisbee in the cul-de-sac where I lived. Invariably, someone would either over-throw or miss and that unforgettable sound would echo through the neighborhood…thankfully is was (usually) less damaging than one would think.

What turns you on, creatively, emotionally or spiritually and why?

I am not sure if it is a paternal thing, but I get really fired up when my kids take an interest in a sport and get super excited about it. My girls both locked onto Lacrosse (I never played…and am horrible) and my son took to cycling right away. While they have miles to go to be “great” at their respective endeavors, it inspires me to learn or better myself so that I can enjoy their growth alongside them. Wish me luck.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

As Boulder-stereotypical as it sounds, I would LOVE to own a bike shop. People need to remember that cyclists put the U.S. into flight first (Orville and Wilbur). A bike shop caters to every demographic and has substantial breadth when it comes to customer interests - everything from the recreational rider to the pro-level cyclist…and the revolutionary anti-gasoline commuter to the hardcore downhiller. Many different customers creates a hyper-diverse and interesting place to work.

Something you’re guilty of…

My body is really bad at processing sugar, which does not work well given my moderate addiction to dark chocolate. The pros tell you there are anti-oxidants in chocolate, but I still think that the sugar wrecks me…such is life.

But the greatest thing about Perry is that he is willing to represent Lijit in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed. On bikes.

I would normally wrap this up by encouraging interested parties to check out Perry’s blog and Twitter stream. However, in this case, all you’ll discover is that he is woefully negligent with both.

But then again, he does have a wonderful wife and three really cute kids…which speaks more about him than any social media platform ever could.

I love going to conferences and listening. There is always a lot of conversation going on, in sessions and hallways, and I enjoy just shutting up. With so many inspiring bloggers in one place, there is much to be learned. A big part of our culture at Lijit is to listen to what our users have to say and I was honored to do just that in Chicago at BlogHer.

On quite a few occasions at the conference, someone in a group would ask about Lijit and before I was able to answer, a blogger standing nearby would jump in to explain why they were using Lijit. It really is enough to make a girl’s heart flutter. To see the hard work and evangelism that everyone at our company does on a daily basis come to life? Totally awesome.

Here are just some of the Lijit publishers that I ran into, ran alongside, stalked silently, watched on panels, asked for feedback and perhaps even danced with:

A Simple Walk
Deb on the Rocks
Marketing Roadmaps
Surrender, Dorothy
This Mama Cooks!
Inherent Passion
PHAT Mommy
Roni’s Weigh
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
Craftastrophe
OutdoorDogs
Jessica Gottlieb
SecondHand Tryptophan
Queen of Spain
Immoral Matriarch
Average Jane
The Plus Size Mommy
temporarily me dot com
FunnyBusiness
Her Bad Mother
CityMama
Sparkplugging
Mindful Momma
Uncommon Misconception
Scheiss Weekly
Piper of Love
Adria Richards
Jory Des Jardins
Diary of a Crazed Mommy
Assertagirl
Suburban Turmoil
Green and Clean Mom
Blonde’s I-View
Gifted Travel
Cutie Booty Cakes
Velveteen Mind
Kaiser Mommy
califmom
Mommy Needs Coffee
A Mommy Story
Everyday Goddess
Send Chocolate
Big Green Purse
Adventures in Babywearing
motherbumper
the weirdgirl
5 Minutes for Mom
Mommy Bits
No Sense of Time
Twofer Mom
POP! PR Jots
Talk It Up!
Lip-Sticking
The Busy Dad Blog
Adrienne’s House
Whiskey In My Sippy Cup
Miss Britt
The Diaper Diaries
Condo Blues

It’s taken me a while to get to this post, but only because it’s taken me a while to fully process and recover from the conference. I apologize that this post has turned into a long list of links, but it is a long list of links that makes me happy. Some of these publishers are women that I met at BlogHer in 2007 and they’re still using Lijit. When I compare this list with the one I put together after last year’s conference, it’s amazing to see the growth. I can only imagine what next year’s post will look like.

Thanks to everyone at BlogHer and I’ll see you ladies (and gents) in New York next summer!

UPDATE: Just as soon as I hit publish, I remember some lovely publishers I left out. Sorry.

[Mandatory note: If I somehow forgot to link to you, please leave a comment and I'll rectify that situation.]

I never cease to be amazed at what Lijit publishers have accomplished and how cool they seem to be. Take, for instance, today’s profile about Lisa Lubin. She’s a three-time Emmy-award-winning Television writer/producer/editor. But that was before she decided to take a sabbatical to travel and work her way around the world. Lucky for us, she has written about the (mis)adventures that ensued as she traipsed around the globe on her blog, LL World Tour.

In addition to sharing stories from her time abroad, Lisa also posts about subjects closer to home like her love for Chicago and thoughts about her hometown in Jersey, along with tips for those women traveling solo and best practices for booking airline flights.


How long have you been blogging and what made you start?

I have been blogging since the summer of 2006. I had decided to quit my job, chuck all my stuff, and travel around the world for a year (which later turned into 2 1/2 years). I was going to simply send ‘email updates’ to friends and family. But a good friend of mine who worked in the crazy interweb world at what was once a small startup in Chicago called Feedburner (now owned by Google), convinced me to start a blog…and off I went into the blogosphere cringing at the awful name every time.

What has been the greatest thing you’ve received from blogging about your travels?

It truly has been amazing. I have ‘met’ so many new friends this way–some that were also traveling and others that were just living vicariously through my adventures. I truly loved helping inspire others and the feedback I received from total strangers was heartwarming.

In your world tours, what has been your top three destinations and why?

This is always a hard question to answer as what I love about traveling is the interaction with people all over the world and I was lucky enough to meet some damn fine people. But besides that, my favorite places were as follows:

1. Berlin–hands down, a cool, progressive city of now. It’s a young city and Berliners are open and artistic. They look back and acknowledge their history, but at the same time are racing into the future. It’s an edgy city with great architecture and art pushing boundaries everywhere you look. I’d live there in a second and you’d find me at a cafe, drinking a beer in Prenzlauer Berg.
2. The Galapagos Islands–Stunning. This was definitely a once in a lifetime place. Each island you visit is different and unique with its own landscape and flora and fauna. The animal life is amazing and with no predators, they simply could care less that you are walking right up to them. I loved my days there of learning, snorkeling, and drifting around at sea without a care in the world.
3. Turkey–I went there on the recommendation of many saying it was their favorite country. I planned to stay two weeks. I stayed three months. The people are universally warm and generous. So many took me in and in a few weeks I was giving private business English lessons, cat sitting at a great flat near Taksim (the center of all nightlife/restaurants), and had a mobile phone with twenty new friends in Istanbul that I hadn’t even known just a few weeks prior. Besides that…the country has an amazingly diverse landscape-from the beaches of the Aegean and Mediterranean to the jaw-dropping ancient Roman ruins to the mountains, lakes and of course, tasty food-it’s a wonderful place.

What has been the greatest challenge you’ve encountered in your journeys?

The greatest challenge? Probably making time to ‘work’ and keep my blog updated. I tried to dedicate days to just hanging out and working wherever I was, but sometimes it was hard to spend the day on my laptop.

How has Lijit helped you to become a better blogger?

I have just started using Lijit (as recommended by that same cool friend who got me blogging in the first place) and am feeling my way around it. The wijit was easy to install on my sidebar and allowed me to remove a clunky section I’d put together of ‘where to find me on the web’ as Lijit already had this as part of their widget.

In addition to being recognized for her travel blog in various places online (like being a finalist in the 2008 Weblog Awards), her articles and photographs have been published by Sunset Magazine, The Boston Globe, Go Nomad and The Savvy Gal among others. She’s lectured on traveling solo and will be teaming up with Whole Foods, REI and Hostelling International for ‘Travel and Food’ seminars this summer. Keep an eye out for Lisa because if you have any questions about traveling, chances are she has your answers.

I love indulging my wanderlust by reading Lisa’s blog and am honored that she’s chosen Lijit as her blog search tool of choice. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Lisa and for inspiring us all with your adventures!

We’ve decided it’s time for a mid-summer contest. Nothing complicated–we just want to hear your Lijit story. To reward your efforts, the best storyteller will win a Kindle and ALL submissions will get a super-comfy Lijit t-shirt.

What should you write about? Absolutely anything having to do with Lijit.

Your contest entry could be about how you found out about Lijit…

“I landed in Nashville for the BlissDom09 conference. It had been a REALLY long flight day for me. The last leg of my trip was out of Denver, and I picked up my luggage and searched for the hotel’s shuttle van…

We talked a bit and I learned that she was representing Lijit, one of the sponsors for the event! (Sorry, I didn’t have the sponsors memorized.) Her name was Tara and I was feeling lucky to have met her like that, one on one, ridin’ in the van…”

–From Carissa at GoodNCrazy

Or simply what you like best about our service…

“This isn’t even the coolest part of Lijit, though, IMHO.  Instead, in my mind, the most interesting feature is the “Research” feature.  After you’ve searched for a specific term or after you reach TOCWOC through a search engine, the Lijit widget shows a Research area which gives you other possible posts or pages from TOCWOC and from the entire Civil War blogosphere!”

–From Brett at TOCWOC

Of course, you could be like Louis Gray and write a post that explains our service better than we do…

“Google’s goal in life is to find the one right answer that is true for everyone. Search for iPhone, and you should get the same answer I do at the top of the results, blanketed by potentially relevant ads from the company’s partners. Lijit’s goal in life is to find the one answer that is most accurate, depending on where you are searching. Search for iPhone on my blog, and you will find the most relevant responses that come from my blog and my content from around the Web, including Flickr, Twitter, Delicious, YouTube and other social sites. Search for iPhone on Steven Hodson’s blog (also using Lijit), and you should get a different set of responses based on his activity.”

–From the blog of Louis Gray

Then, like Louis, you can turn your babies into little Lijit evangelists as well…

(But that’s not necessary to win the contest.)

To enter the contest:

• Simply post your Lijit story on your blog.
• Link back to us here.
• Leave a comment on this post with a link to your entry to insure we don’t miss your post.

You have thirty days and we will pick the winner with the help of everyone around our office. To answer potential questions, Lijit employees and their families are not eligible to win. (Lenora and Walter, I’m talking to you two!) Also, if you have posted something about Lijit in the past, feel free to republish your older post and we’ll consider it a valid entry.

In addition to the Kindle, you’ll also be featured on our blog, our homepage and receive our undying love & devotion.

Seems easy enough, right?  Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you come up with!

In case you were wondering where all the honey bees have gone…look no further.

According to eyewitness reports, the swarm “arrived in tight formation, surveyed the Rio Grande across the street, found it unsuitable and then proceeded to colonize our tree.”

The guy in the white shirt is Bill, a wonderful guy and Lijit employee who alerted us to the swarm’s presence yesterday. After others in the building caught wind of the news, a small crowd gathered to enjoy the spectacle of nature until some do-gooder beekeepers came by to collect the bees a little while later.

A final close-up shot of the swarm, so you can fully appreciate just how Lijit we can bee…

Many thanks to Zach Conger, our resident Systems Architect and honey of a guy for rushing out to document this extraordinary event.

And yes, this does constitute exciting around our workplace. No judging.

There are four kinds of people that work here at Lijit*: those that race cars, those that run, those that bike, and those that do other things**. I’m of the opinion that bikers make up the second largest majority around the office, being slightly beaten out by the overall geek population. When I got word that there were a couple of self-proclaimed geeks that were riding their bicycles across the US to raise awareness about bike-commuting, I knew they had to be Lijit.

Meet Carlos and Joe, the two geeks behind Real Geeks Ride. They started their cross-country cycling adventure on May 20th and are chronicling their journey via blog, tweets and pictures. We’re honored that they’ve chosen to use Lijit on the official RGR blog but reading about their travels just wasn’t enough. After a few emails (and one phone call he took from the side of the road in Nebraska with big trucks whizzing by), Carlos was happy to answer a few questions for us.

How long have you been blogging and what made you start?

I have been in the blogging world on and off for the past few years. It tends to be event/travel oriented, rather than opinion or news based. I started blogging in high school but dropped it when interest was lost. I picked it up again when I traveled around the world with a ‘worldly singing and dancing group’ to keep my parents and friends up to date.

What has been the greatest thing you’ve received from blogging?

During this bike ride, blogging has given both Joe and I hundreds of people looking out for our safety and health. They ask about us and offer suggestions when we write about our health issues. Knowing that we have moms across the country expecting our safety is uplifting.

What has suprised you on your cross-country bike trip and why?

It is most surprising how different each state reacts to cyclists on the road. We are currently in Nebraska and receive a wave from every other car (not exaggerating). Our experience here is that people give ample room when passing, and are willing to help at any moment. This differs greatly from our experience in Iowa, where we were screamed at, almost hit a few times, and given the finger more times than waves.

What has been the biggest challenge you guys have encountered on your trip so far?

The biggest challenge has been keeping up with the blog. After biking 100+ miles and arriving at our destination at 8 pm, the last thing we want to do is edit photos and write about the past few hours. However, we gain so much push to do ‘work’ when people send us messages of inspiration. It has been the hundreds of messages we have received that allow us to overcome not wanting to post.

How has Lijit helped you to become a better blogger?

Lijit has allowed me to become a better blogger by making it easy to search for people doing similar things. The more I read within a certain field, the more it gives me the ability to see the different writing styles of that field.

If you’re interested, you can follow along with Carlos and Joe on their blog, on Twitter or through their Flickr pics.

Additionally, if you’re in the Denver/Boulder area, you’re invited to meet the guys this Friday, July 3rd, as they make a stop in Boulder. We’ll be meeting up at the Boulder Draft House, from 4-6 pm, to enjoy some happy hour beers with the guys. (Look for us in the back room!) Ride your bike, stop in, and let us show Carlos and Joe just how much we love our bikes around here.

*A very sweeping overgeneralization, of course.

**Other things include: rugby, hiking, parenting, photography, playing video games & tweeting.

I don’t even know where to begin with introducing this one. Grace installed Lijit on her cute blog soon after moving to town and I reached out, via email, to thank her. Next thing you know, she’s working for us. Nice how things work like that in Boulder.

We’re so glad to have Grace’s youthful outlook and enthusiasm around the office. She’s a crazy mad tweeter and constantly blogs up a storm. With all of that Gen Y energy, how can she not help our company succeed? (Plus, she likes to pretend she’s tumbling for international judges.)

What is your Lijit contribution?

My title is Business Development, which means I help acquire new bloggers or publishers to understand and use Lijit while also helping to bring in any new business. I do a mix of customer support with our current users, account management, marketing and connecting with new bloggers not yet using Lijit. With that being said, I probably discover and talk with hundreds of bloggers each week!

What sound or noise do you love and why?

The sound of a wine cork popping open and/or a champagne bottle, then the fizzing afterwards. Not only is that sound related to celebrations and happiness, but I love me some wine.

What is your least favorite word and why?

When people (in real life) say out loud, “LOL”, “OMG”, or “WTF”. Why do you have to shorten and abbreviate? I’m right in front of you and you aren’t typing. Express yourself!

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

I’ve secretly been harboring this idea and I recently revealed it, so I’m going to keep going and see where it takes me. Drumroll…Traveling Food Critic. Let me tell you why. It combines all of my passions: I love to travel and explore different cuisines from around the world. I think that writing is a fantastic way to express yourself and I enjoy interacting with people, so if I could have all those bundled up to one profession I would love it. That is, I could still live-tweet, blog and v-blog my way around the world with my very own “Grace Happens” global culinary tour.

Something you’re guilty of…

Laughing at inappropriate times and busting into dance moves when no one else is dancing (ie: middle of a street, empty dance floor, in my chair at the office).

Grace is an amazingly unique individual and is doing wonderful things for Lijit. To get even more Grace in your life, be sure to check out her blog, Small Hands, Big Ideas (take my word for it…those hands are tiny), follow her on Twitter, or look for her traveling food show coming soon to either the Food Network or the Travel Channel. Thanks for all you do to make us smile every day Gracie!