By Julie Blaustein

Bibbil is officially launching its social video platform today to help people easily connect around the world through a magical video experience that you can learn more about here.

“People need an enjoyable and beautiful way to connect with the ones they care about,” said David J. Phillips, CEO and Co-Founder of Bibbil. “With Bibbil, you can now get what you want from video chat – simple, fast, and fun connections to all of your friends and family around the world. There is no downloading, installing, or running of a separate desktop application required. Once inside Facebook, the user is merely two clicks away from video enchantment – and it’s free.”

Bibbil uses game dynamics to reward users and give them access to new features. Starting out on the service a Bibbilittle, a user earns bibbills (virtual points) to unlock new features on their way to the top status of Bibbillionaire. Features include group video chat, party video chat, live broadcasting, and more. The team is also preparing to release its new platform solution that integrates across many mobile devices. To learn how to Bibil visit Bibbil or to learn the 5 easy ways to earn at Bibbills.

The founding team of David J. Phillips, Robbie Trencheny and Jesse Sung have known each other for over 14 years. As serial entrepreneurs, they hold more than a dozen startups under their belts, including a venture backed social discovery service.  To date, the Bibbil team has built its initial version of the application, secured partnerships with leading Web video communications provider TokBox, and ran a successful private alpha launch which spread to over 20 countries in less than 24 hours.

In the era of social networking and democratization of the web, connecting with ones customers and audience on an emotional level is becoming ever so important and crucial for businesses.

Using video for digital storytelling has shown to be effective, but it has been, and still is, a bit of a mystery land and non-option to many companies due to high prizing and technically advanced solutions, combined with the requirements on high video quality.

23 Video from Denmark, Europe, or as Robert Scoble puts it,” the country that nobody visits!”, has just finished its international launch tour with a mission to make own videosites accessible to everyone. Everyone should have one, and everyone should be able to afford one. With over 200 running websites and paying customers, 23 Video is now going global offering 100 partners in 15 different countries.

23 Video has already been called for the WordPress for video by the tech savvy media, allowing one to get started by swiping a credit card, choosing a design and a domain name. With a self funded team of ten, 23 Video is taking up the fight against competitors like Brightcove and Ooyala, who combined are good for $145 Million in funding.

Case Study in Building Product and Launching Internationally

Moreover, 23 Video is a great case study on how to build a product and launch internationally in a very competitive landscape.

1. Solving real problems: Listen and Learn

Get early adopters and customers and work together with them to get feedback. Go hunting for feedback. Show your product to everyone you think might benefit from it. Listen, digest, and focus.

When I first met with the co-founders Steffen Tiedemann Christensen and Thomas Madsen-Mygdal for a year ago, they were doing a feedback demo tour in Stockholm. I remember writing:

“23 Video is determined to kill that mumbo jumbo and difficulties surrounding setting up ones own web-tv channel”

One quick look at the feature list tells that it’s exactly what the team’s been busy with during the past year.

The team have been breaking down every possible barrier to entry there is for a small business to get started with online video. How about features like one price and no limitations, or as to quote Thomas:

“Why have limits, we believe in empowering instead of limiting users”.

The list continues with all the goodies like HTML5, API, distribution across all platforms, SEO friendly, own ad serving (partnership with Videoplaza), and access control in case you’d be into paywall solutions, to name a few.

2. Build your fanbase

I can not stress this enough: Involve people early on in your product. You will need ambassadors to help with feedback on the product development, spreading the word and making those important connections and recommendations. For example, do a feedback tour like 23 Video did.

3. Educate

To disrupt an industry and behavioral habits is normally a long process and never simply done just by introducing a new technology. Sure, both luck, timing and a great product is needed, but foremost, it’s about hard work educating and enabling both the customers, and their customers.

23 Video has been working with tutorials, workshops, as securing and educating partners to fully utilize the product. How easy the platform and tools might be, one still needs help and inspiration to produce the content.

4. 100% Human

23 Video is all about the people, for the people.

“23 Video is just a tool: it takes humans to make the most of it. Instead of automated responses, you will have your very own contact person to help you out.”

Many companies today are struggling to humanize their brands to be able to meet the increasing customer demands regarding transparency in customer service and company communication.

5. Launch with help from your fans

Everyone can throw a launch party: hire the works, invite “important” industry people, potential customers and press (no guarantee for show up), but as at most of the times, it’ll end up being yet another launch party soon to be forgotten, without having created none whatsoever connection or relationship with the brand itself.

Or, you can launch in smaller scale, inviting few special people recommended by your fans and trusted peers to create something that sticks. Instead of spending lots of money on eyeballs, spend time with people. 23 Video did that by having team of four doing informal launch dinners in San Francisco, London, Hamburg and Stockholm, finishing back at home in Copenhagen. Be creative. Be a person and socialize.

Watch Robert Scoble’s in depth interview with co-founders Thomas and Steffen of  23 Video.

More reading on digital storytelling on Bub.blicio.us.

Paula is online strategist and startup evangelist. She is also a mentor for startups at Seedcamp. She blogs at paulamarttila.com and here at Bub.blicio.us.
Connect with her on Twitter, LinkedIn,
Drop her email at paula.marttila[at]gmail[dot]com

by Michelle Lentz

There’s a fair amount of buzz about the Palm Pre launch and when it might actually occur. You see, the closer we get to June, the closer we get to the iPhone 3.0 announcement, which will turn all the blogs into all-iPhone-all-the-time. Based on previous years, it will again be all-iPhone-all-the-time in July when the new iPhone launches. (I’m sort of glad I’ll be on vacation in July.)

By continually avoiding release date talk, other than “first half of 2009,” Palm seriously risks losing a lot of marketing time to the latest iPhone launch. Apparently, a lot of folks expected the Pre to launch last week. The next guesstimated date is May 17. Mid-may would at least give Palm a couple weeks of attention before all eyes shift to Apple.

Both Palm and Sprint need the Pre to help revive their flagging businesses. According to AdAge, Sprint & Palm have enough problems without creating new ones:

Survey results released by ChangeWave last week suggest that the Pre will have to deal with Sprint’s image problem as a second-tier carrier with poor customer service. In a survey of 4,292 cellphone owners, 17% said Sprint is the top reason they will not consider the Pre. Incidentally, the same percentage said they won’t buy an iPhone because of AT&T. But Sprint is no AT&T. It’s struggling to keep its 49 million customers, while its bigger rival is growing its 77 million subscriber base.

I fall into that latter category by the way, I’m itching to get my hands on a Palm Pre and leave my horrid AT&T service (and equally bad customer service) behind. AT&T is apparently a little worried too – and they’re just good sales people. An internal AT&T document has leaked that provides talking points on how the iPhone is better than the Palm Pre. I would beg to differ with a couple of the points, but at least AT&T has talking points. I have my fingers crossed that, upon release, Sprint sales folks can tell me how the Pre is better than my iPhone and how to effectively sync the Pre with my Mac.

A recent post by 24/7 Wall Street lists Palm as one of the 12 brands most likely to disappear in the next year, partially because of its partnership with Sprint.

Recent research shows that almost no one who owns an Apple (AAPL) iPhone or RIM (RIMM) Blackberry will switch to the new smartphone, so Palm will have to essentially expand the market to get share for its new device during a recession.  The “Pre” will also be sold exclusively though Sprint (S), the No.3 cellular carrier in the US which has been losing subscribers consistently for more than two years. The launch of the “Pre” is a disaster in the making.  … The bottom line is that Palm has no chance of getting an even modest part of the smartphone market in a severe economic downturn since it competes with two of the premier technology companies in the world—Apple and RIM. Palm won’t be in business in a year.

Palm is expected to drive the advertising and has hired Modernista for the campaign. (Modernista did the “Skittles thing” before Skittles did.) But I wouldn’t put Sprint out for advertising either. One of my favorite commercials at the moment, one that I’ll stop the DVR and watch, is the new Sprint commercial with the 3-D Twitter birds, some humor, and the shot of the Pre at the end.

What do you think Palm and Sprint’s chances are?

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Sites: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Brian Solis

One of the most inspiring aspects of the Social Economy is the widespread comradeship that is pervasive amongst thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers. Although we’re in the throes of a recession, the community is more vigilant than ever and ready to help and guide you to success.

My good friends at Dealmaker Media are certainly among the greatest connectors and resource providers and they’re hosting an incredible event just for you.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area on February 6th, you could only benefit from participating in Startonomics. Dealmaker Media has organized some of the most revered, networked and proven entrepreneurs and experts to share insight, strategies, successess, challenges, and mistakes to help you effectively navigate your startup through these opportune stages of economic possibilities.

Speakers include:

David Sacks, Yammer

Mike Jones, Tsavo Media

Mark Jeffrey, Mahalo

Jim Benedetto, MySpace

Jason Nazar, DocStoc

Sean Percival, Author of MySpace Marketing

Ted Rheingold, Dogster

Peter Pham, Billshrink

Frank Addante, Rubicon

Dan Gould, Fox Interactive

Richard Rosenblatt, Demand Media

Startonomics is a one-day workshop designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs on how to create simple, actionable metrics; and how to use them to make better product and marketing decisions for long-term growth and startup success.s

There’s also an after party hosted by Media Temple…

If you’d like to attend, please click here. This link will reduce the ticket price by $100. Get it before they’re gone!

One more thing. I’m taking up residence for the day and will officially host a series of PR for Startup discussions during “office hours.” Stand by for more details! In the meantime, read this post on TechCrunch, “PR Secrets for Startups.”

Connect with me on:
Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pownce, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, Jaiku or Facebook