Monday I announced our four year anniversary and celebration. After reminiscing a bit about where we’ve been, and some early milestones, I said to come back on Wednesday to see where we’re at now. Here are a few things to share:
- We’re going strong, continuing to increase the number of user signups and upgrades. I didn’t think we’d be a fad but just seeing the numbers increase shows that this is a needed tool/application.
- The number of USERS continues to grow. It was exciting to see the first user login more than 1,000 times… to know that we’ve created something that smart people use to manage their job search, indeed, to rely on, is satisfying.
- We continue to add new features and streamline the system. It’s painfully slow to do this now, four years into development, as the system is more complex than it was a few years ago. Any little change can mean a lot of work on the backend… but we have a list a mile long and can improve JibberJobber for the next 100 years :p
- We have competition, lots of competition. When I launched I enjoyed being the only solution to organize a job search online… for about five days. The next week our first competitor popped up (Isabont). Now there are about ten or so competitors…. some are even funded, many have full teams behind them (I’ve met a number of my competitors). I know competition is supposed to be good but I kind of liked it when we were the only one :p On the other hand, someone recently told me that having more competitors validates the concept.
- You know I’m big on multiple streams of income. I continue to watch my business evolve, and work on income streams that make sense. This year is turning out to be quite different from last year and business evolution has proven to be inevitable.
- I continue to write A LOT. Sometimes I think I’m crazy for writing so much, and wonder if I’m really just hiding behind my keyboard when I should be doing other things, but I enjoy it and I feel like it’s been a great marketing and branding vehicle. Here are some places I write:
- Blogs – this JibberJobber blog, my Jason Alba (entrepreneur/daddy) blog, my LinkedIn blog, the Career Resumes blog, the AOL Jobs blog… I know I’m forgetting something…
- Books – I am about to do the third edition of my LinkedIn book and need to write the second edition of the Facebook book. I am in the process of editing my third book, Eight Lunches, which is a dialog between two entrepreneurs/solopreneurs (want to see the draft and give me feedback? Click here…)
- Personal – I’m actually working on a screenplay that has NOTHING to do with work, careers, etc. I also wrote all but one line of a children’s book and am thinking about where to take that.
- I’ve created the second edition of the LinkedIn DVD (LinkedIn for Job Seekers) and should be shipping that this week. I’ve also produced the Killer Online Press Releases DVD, which is a three hour DVD on creating and optimizing your press releases and press reach.
- I’m booking the latter end of this year for speaking and expect to travel to Maryland, Dallas, and San Diego (geesh, I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting ANOTHER trip here!) and hope to have the Fall/Winter/Spring busy with speaking engagements.
- I’m looking for commission-only sales people to help me do business development on some B2B products I’ve conceptualized with JibberJobber and related stuff. I’m very excited about the possibilities here and hope to find people who are passionate about business development to help me move forward.
- On a personal note, my home office is getting a major renovation and this summer I’m taking more time for my family (camping and traditions and memory-making) and myself (walking 500 miles this year)
Many times I wonder if I can handle what I am trying to handle, but I think about the solid metal bar that Heather Gardner gave me a few years earlier:
I’ve failed in a number of things, but they don’t keep me from moving forward!
Congratulations, Jason! You’ve been an inspiration.
Congratulations once again!
I continue to find JibberJobber very useful in my daily routine to keep track of my network and client contacts. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I really love some features that were added in recent months, particularly the ability to edit entries more easily, the ability to create log entries from e-mail, and the use of regular expressions in the search box.
Jason, you inspire me more often than you know. I can’t wait to see what you do next. You losing your job was one of the blessings in MY life :p.
And I’m excited to read Eight Lunches!
…… YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!
Your story of success is all inspiring. It is a great example of overcoming the fear of failing and envisioning yourself in success. Sharing your professional ups and downs has helped so many of us over the last few years and that’s a wonderful way to give back.
Next up? How about a motivational desk paperweight of your own that reads:
“Yep, I did it….”
As always, YOU ROCK JASON!