Cocktail Hour: March 16, 2012

It’s hard to believe there’s still life and business going on while March Madness is in full swing. It surely can’t be just me... Now that you’ve recovered from your SXSWi jet lag (or maybe you’re still going strong in Austin) and gotten out of your Pi(e) Day food coma, there’s plenty to catch up on.

Here are some great reads from this week:

The Cycle of Getting Important Stuff Done (Duct Tape Marketing): How many times have you said, “Why can’t there be more hours in the day?” Or maybe, “I don’t have time for anything I want to do, much less completing the things I need to do.” This offers a three-part strategy for maximizing your efficiency. While you are ultimately the one that knows your best working style, it’s a good inspiration for making sure you are working smart, rather than just working.

Disable Their Delete Key (ClickZ): When working with email marketing, it’s a battle for opens. What makes a user open your message instead of sending it directly to the trash? It’s all in the subject line. Perhaps it’s a pun, or maybe an adequately appropriate alliteration...any way to catch the reader and make him or her stop to think. What are your go-to tactics? Would you ever use the subject line “Binary Bitches: Keeping Open Source Open to Women”?

South by Southwest as a Silicon Valley Startup: Time to Sell (ReadWriteWeb): Did you attend? Did you feel like you attended based on how many people on your Twitter feed attended? This takes a look at the history of SXSW, and how it could potentially use some improvements. For one, working on infrastructure and dealing with high volume of attendance. Should there be a new conference? Better yet, should it be a secret that you can only find out about through social media and word of mouth? I propose we get #SecretCon2013 started...

Americans Don’t Have Time for Slow Websites (Mashable / Online Graduate Programs): Few things are more frustrating than a slow-loading website. These include getting stuck behind a person writing a check at the grocery store or being at a four-way stop where no one knows who goes first. How many times have you clicked away from a site that took too long? Did you ever think about how that affects that site’s business? Perhaps the most shocking statistic in this infographic is that Amazon could lose up to $1.6 billion each year if there is a one second page delay. That’s a lot of Kindles.

How to Find the Perfect Job Applicant (or Look Like One) (Harvard Business Review): If you find yourself looking for a new team member (or are on the hunt yourself), you know that the interview process can be tough. What are the skills you are looking for? In this case, it’s a matter of commitment. What intangibles or outside activities can you bring to the table as an applicant?

What have you been reading?