Digital Influentials: Power To (and Because Of) The People - Cory Treffiletti - MediaBizBloggers

Week in and week out I review sites and services that I think are interesting, but what I've been overlooking are the people behind these companies and services. Without the people, none of these services would exist, and once in a while we should all take a second, stop, and thank the people who spend their time developing these ideas for their efforts.

Our business is a very tech-heavy business, but it's a people-centric business as well. The user, the developer, the marketer and the designer. These four categories of people are what drive the business ahead. They're the fuel that feeds the fire, and we have to acknowledge their roles in the continuum and applaud them as well. When you take a peek at these sites below, pay special mind to the work that went into them and the concern these companies have for the people they're trying to assist. The business we're in is amazing, but it'd be nothing if not for the people that support it. If you get a moment, and the moment strikes you, send a positive note to the people behind these sites and let them know what you think. Send them congratulations! Send them a thank-you! Take a minute to recognize their hard work and pay forward a little good will. The positive karma you present may just make someone on the other end smile, and who doesn't need to smile just a little bit!

Oh, and by the way – thank YOU for reading each issue of this column. I appreciate it very deeply!

Are you looking for money (join the club)? Well, if you're searching for funding and you've got an interesting idea, check out KICKSTARTER (http://www.kickstarter.com/). KickStarter is a "newish" player in the crowd-funding category (people funding good ideas), but their spin is a little more user friendly and it seems to be working. The site features artists, entrepreneurs, technologists and even fashion designers looking to make a break! It's worth checking out – they can help make dreams come true for lots of people!

Maybe you have the money and are looking for the ideas? Then go no farther than SPIGIT (http://www.spigit.com/). Spigit was submitted by Doug Chavez and it's an interesting way to generate ideas from your social and/or professional community (the people you know and trust). Innovation comes from the strangest places, so use Spigit to help you uncover and surface the ideas you might not have otherwise found.

If you have more mundane challenges, like finding a college or determining what to wear today, check in with the fun people at SIRCLEIT (http://www.sircleit.com/). SircleIt is a unique social media tool for getting answers to daily questions from your social network (once again - the important people in your social network who can most likely help you answer the daily questions you have). It connects with Facebook and it makes it easier for you to uncover the answers that make life tick.

What about DAYLIFE (http://www.daylife.com/). Day Life is a new service that allows you to organize and distribute news of the world (and news of the people around you) using an easy to develop, easy to distribute player platform. It's a service for publishers more than anything else and the output is beautiful (nice work guys). Take a moment and see if they offer a service that your fledgling site can use!

Usually this next section is reserved for the highlights of the iPhone but since I just got my 3G iPad I decided to take a look into the world of the iPad Apps! I have to admit I just started playing with it, but so far the must-haves are the NETFLIX app for movies, the USATODAY app for news, the NPR app for intelligent news and WIKIPANION for accessing fun information. And of course, being a geek, you have to check out the MARVEL COMICS app, which allows you to read classic and new comic books for a fee (some are free). The people who designed these apps took great care to create something new for the iPad, so be sure to give them their due

That's it this week! Thanks and please keep sending me new sites and services at cory@catalystsf.com.

Cory Treffiletti is President and Managing Partner for Catalyst SF. Cory has been a thought leader in interactive marketing and advertising since 1995. Cory can be contacted at cory@catalystsf.com.

Read all Cory’s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Digital Influencers - MediaBizBloggers.

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