Ryan A Graves.com

I’ve been working in and with web 2.0 applications for about 5 years and in the paste 2 I’ve really focused how people use web 2.0 apps in their business and their lives. As part of the process to establish myself as an expert on social software and the craze that is web 2.0 I decided to create my social software graph.  These are the applications that I think are best in each category and how I use some of these tools.

Blogs

I’ve included my personal blog Ryan A Graves.com and also my start-up ActionsTalk. I included ActionsTalk in this category because it uses a vlog (video blog) template and because it is a site where I am the sole (with my co-founder) contributor. My blog is used not as a one way tool but as a platform to start conversations. I encourage readers to leave comments (and video comments) in order to leave feedback and thoughts. And I always reply to them!

Micro-Media

Twitter is the obviously dominant tool here. Users basically answer the question, “What are you doing?” For myself, Twitter has proven to be the most effective networking application of all of them. They have had some serious problems however with keeping their site up. The surge in users over the last few months has taken servers down an uncountable amount of times. Plurk is basically a Twitter copy-cat formatted in a horizontal time line fashion. Where Plurk struggles most is that the size of the user base, Twitters large advantage, is significantly smaller.

Livecasts

In this space I only use Ustream.tv. Ustream.tv is accepted as the best livestream tool and is used by “livestreamers” like Chris Pirillo who many times has thousands of people watching live. Another user of Ustream.tv that I follow is Jake Marsh.

Rich Media

Rich Media consist of things like video and photos. I’ve held a pro account on Flickr for a year and I will definitely continue to use this service. The quality of photos shared on Flickr is phenomenal. For video I use Viddler for uploading and sharing Ryan G TV episodes. I think that the video quality is highest, the player is clean and simple and it is very customizable. Then there is the obvious Youtube. I don’t upload many vids to Youtube but I do watch a ton! You tube has recently given blogger and founder of Seesmic, Loic Lemeur tons of trouble.

Aggregators,Activity Feeds

Aggregators or Activity Feed sites pull in the changes or activity from all of your other social software. Pulling in things like Flickr, Twitter, Last.fm and many many others. The dominant service here is FriendFeed. It is so dominant in fact that many think that FriendFeed will take over as the dominant mircro-blogging service in place of Twitter.

Audience, Communities

MyBlogLog is probably the most popular service for keeping track of who reads your blog. MyBlogLog allows you to embed a widget on your site that shows an avatar (small image) of everyone who has viewed your site. I use my blog as a platform for conversation and MyBlogLog helps me connect and converse with readers.

Social Graph

The social graph or social network is the most common type of application in the web 2.0 suite. Facebook and LinkedIn are networks that allow you to stay connected and share mediia between friends and contacts. Facebook started at Harvard and works its way around the countries colleges, while LinkedIn helps to promote business networking.

Content

In the content category its all about sharing. The internet is obviously huge and some of the most efficient ways to find good content is to see what others are reading. Sites like Digg and Del.ici.ous help people share and find the best the internet has to offer. Digg is set up in a voting format so people submit content and other users vote the content down or up the popularity scale. The cream of the crop rises to the top.

Music

I love listening to music but I’m not good at finding or sharing so the web 2.0 music apps are the ones I use the least. Last.fm allows you to share music and find friends with similar music preferences. The coolest thing about last.fm is that it suggests music that you will like based on what you ‘favorite’. Pandora does the same thing, you create a channel based on a song or artist and the following songs will be similar to that song; another great way of finding new music and bands.

Travel

Dopplr is the only tool that I use for tracking and sharing my travel.  I have a widget embedded on my blog that lets people know where I am currently and what trips I have planned in the future. Dopplr is very simple and very useful. They also ask what your mode of transportation is for each trip and calculate your use of carbon in all of your trips.

Events

I don’t create many events. But tons of events come to me, so its helpful to know what is going on and when. Because of the wide use of Facebook that seems to be the tool of choice for sharing a party or conference but recently Upcoming.com has create a stir in this space. Upcoming is great way to keep event goers informed and is also a great way to publicize an event. When ActionsTalk was first starting up we used Upcoming to promote the first ActionsTalk meeting and it worked wonders.

Niche Networks

Ning allows users to create very simple social networks. People can sign-up and share very easily. I don’t have a Ning network that I created myself but I belong to a few. The networking group in Milwaukee called Spreenkler uses Ning to organize events and the group and the simplicity of the site is what makes it so appealing.

I started thinking about having the right tools a few months back. It started with a burning desire to spend $1792 for a refurbished Mac Book Pro, so, yes this post is a result and a justification for that purchase.

As an entrepreneur having the right tools is critical to your success! As I began to try and figure out what those right tools were I realized they come in all shapes and sizes. The following are some of the tools that I’ve found critically important to an entrepreneur’s tool belt.

Mentors: This is a personal favorite because this process is fun. This is the process of getting to learn from someone who has blazed the trails before you. As an entrepreneur you are always talking about and pitching your business to different people (or at least you should be). This is an opportunity to shut-up and listen and learn. If you choose the right mentor then you will always be able to learn from that person no matter what stage of the game you are in, or what stage they are in. For more info on how to get mentored read my friend Larry Chiang’s post on Found|Read.

Founders: Rarely can you be the only one. During the process of founding and building a company your chances of success will significantly increase if you have a co-founder…the right co-founder. There is so much to be done in such a short period of time for an entrepreneur that having 2 or 3 team member is almost a must. Plus, again, this is the fun part. Having the change to create an incubator for ideas and the opportunity to share in successes (and failures) is sometimes the best part!

Computer: Lets be honest with ourselves for a moment. Every business now-a-days needs a good website. Whether that work is contracted out or developed by the entrepreneur it is a must. The cost of developing that portal to your customers is significantly cheaper to develop yourself. Every business also needs good communications to its customers or community. Having the right computer “tool” can help so much in this process. I’m not here to push my newly developed Apple bias on you but please take a look at this before buying a new machine.

I finally got a 15′ MacBook Pro about a week ago and it is definitely the right tool.

Tenacity: Literally nothing can stop you. If you are the track runner who hits his knee on a hurtle and stops running the race, you’re done. Having the ability to fight through ANY situation that you are faced with is the single most important tool to have in your belt. Even if you have the perfect co-founder, funding, mentors, computer, or idea, you will go absolutely no where without the tenacity to fight through the times that people say, “that idea sucks”, or “you haven’t sold any this month”. I feel so lame typing this but, never ever give up.

Purpose: When it comes down to it you need to be able to answer only one question. Why? If you can’t answer that question your passion will dry up. The drive for the business won’t exist and you won’t have the fuel to power that tenacity tool. Before you write an executive summary, mock up a prototype, or call a VC, you must be able to answer the question, why am I doing this?

With those critical tools under your belt you will be able to pull the right tool at the right time and leap “almost” any hurtle. What are other tools that you have found important to your success in business or as an entrepreneur?