Jeff the Great says LivePDX is DeadPDX!

If you have watched much TV in Portland lately, you've probably seen ad's for LivePDX.com. The site is like citysearch, you use it to find restaurants, shopping, etc. So I've done some research, checked out their site a bit, thought I'd post my thoughts for all to read.


First thing that I noticed and I think deserves mention is that LivePDX.com is affiliated with Fox12 (KPTV). The parent company is the Meredith Corporation and LivePDX is a pilot project for them...if all goes well they'll launch the same web concept in other cities they serve with local media.


Next thing that jumped out at me was their contact page that implies they employ at least 5 full time employee's.


Finally, while looking through their site I noticed something startling; they only have restaurant and bar information on their site. No shopping, no beauty, no nothing other than food and drink.

At this point you are asking "why this is all important?" Here is my point: with all the money and support they have from their parent company, with 5 full time employee's, this is all they could do?


With all do respect, this site is awful! I couldn't find ANYTHING I was looking for. No exaggeration, couldn't find a thing. Their site implies they have information beyond just food/beverage, but nothing. They don't even bother to say "coming soon" on those pages. The submit page, which allows users to add to their directory, is awful. The page is not specific to the type of business you are submitting, and a submission I made about a month ago is still not showing on their site.


The local search market is so crowded these days, you'd think a big company like Meredith Corp would give it their all. If LivePDX is "their all," I'd sell their stock ASAP.


-Jeff the Great

Jeff the Great brings Goboz to iGoogle!

So there have been a lot of rumors floating around about a new Portland area startup called Goboz. Well, the creators seem to be seeding the blog world with some hints to what they have to come.

Today I received an email from their site inviting me to add their new gadget to my iGoogle homepage. So I did, pretty cool stuff! The gadget sits on your custom Google homepage and provides a live feed from the news section of Goboz.com. The gadget gives you the news headline, and they tell me when their site goes live next week, clicking on the headline will take you to the news section of their site. Right now, they block us normal folks out...you have to email them to get a beta invite.

My understanding is that Goboz.com isn't even focused on news. Apparently they are a new way to search Portland for restaurants, salons, etc. Sounds like a Citysearch killer if you ask me!

If you want to add the Goboz News gadget to your iGoogle page, follow these instructions:

1. Log into Google and go to the iGoogle page.
2. Click "add stuff" in the upper right corner
3. Click "add by URL," which is to the right of the search box/button
4. Copy and paste this URL in: http://www.dapper.net/transform.php?dappName=GobozJustPublished&transformer=GoogleGadget&extraArg_gadgetName=Goboz%20Portland%20News%20Feed&extraArg_gadgetDesc=Feed%20of%20locally%20submitted%20news%20to%20Goboz%20Portland&extraArg_fields[]=Title&extraArg_fields[]=Description&extraArg_fields[]=Publication_Date&extraArg_fields[]=Item_Link&extraArg_showLabels=1&extraArg_template=default&applyToUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fportland.goboz.com%2Fnews%2Frss.php

Enjoy,

Jeff the Great

UPDATE: Found more info about Goboz at http://www.aboutus.org/Goboz.com

Jeff the Great goes Road Trip'n

Just got back into town from a long weekend up in Northern Idaho. If you haven't been there, you've gotta check it out sometime in your life.

Specifically, the Sandpoint, ID area on Lake Pend Oreille. I just love how this part of the country has maintained that untouched, out of the way, mountain feel. For example, the window of the bedroom of the house my wife and I were at was literally about 15 steps from a gorgeous mountain creek...what a sound to fall asleep to!

Here are some thoughts from the "road" part of my trip:

• I discovered there is a trucking company named Yellow, though their logo is the color orange.
• There is another trucking company named England, out of Salt Lake City......uh, okay.
• As cool as they are, Harley's must break down a lot...I saw 3 broken down bikes with their riders on the side of the road, all Harley Davidson's. No wonder my Uncle, who rides a Honda, says he and his crew always bring a Harley on the ride just so they have something to work on.
• Despite how beautiful Northern Idaho is, Oregon has got to be the most beautiful state in the Nation. Driving through the Columbia Gorge at sunset on a mostly clear summer evening is heavenly.
• Sunday Aug. 19th must have been "drive slow in the fast lane, especially after switching lanes at inconvenient times for other drivers" day. Wow.

Make sure to check out my other blog, pdxcompanies.com, I'll be updating it again on Monday.

-Jeff the Great

Jeff the Great Overhears PDX

I've come to love a blog called Overheard in PDX. The author posts different, often crazy and funny, things he or others overhear in and around Portland. So when I overheard something the other day, I just had to share it with my readers.

Officer 1: "What time did you start your shift today?"

Officer 2: "9am."

The catch? It was about 9:15am in the morning at a Starbucks where about 8 Washington County Sheriff Deputies gathered inside for a coffee break. Not to mention, 5 of the 8 county owned motorcycles they rode in on were illegally parked and obstructing parking lot traffic.

Your tax dollars hard at work! I guess Multnomah County doesn't have a monopoly on idiocy.

-Jeff the Great

Jeff the Great goes Naturally Curly!

I've been working hard on a marketing project for a local Portland fashion and beauty icon and am excited to report today that we have hit a milestone!

The Hickox family and their salon partners have been cutting the locks of the Portland elite for over three decades. What you might not of known is that Justin Hickox, owner of the downtown boutique salon Hickox Studio, also sells a line of world class, private label hair care products.

Today the globally renowned web site for women with curly hair, NaturallyCurly.com, featured Phat Hair in their new products section. Phat Hair is a styling mousse that was developed for all types of hair, but turns out to be one of the best products on the market for curly hair!

NaturallyCurly.com gets about 3 million page views per month and is growing by about 30% per month! They are looked to as the world wide authority on curly hair so this exposure is fantastic for us!

Check out the product mention at NaturallyCurly.com [here] and visit the Hickox Studio web site to buy a bottle for yourself. Shoot me an email for a 20% off coupon code!

-Jeff the Great