Make Money Online

Believe it or not there is more to SXSW than the parties. Although from chatter on Twitter it’s often hard to tell. With SXSW kicking off this week I’m sure most of you have planned which parties to attend but maybe haven’t looked at the session schedule quite yet. So before you get lost in the lines to the film screenings, bars, celebrity signings, and hoping food joints like the Magnolia Café or the Iron Works, here are my picks for the Top 10 must see interactive sessions at SXSW 2010:

Smackdown: Consumers Privacy vs. Advertiser Revenue
Time: Friday March 12, 2PM
Hashtag: #smackdownprivacyrevenuet

The panel premise that the FTC could ban all forms of tracking consumer web activity is a nice but alarmist hook. Still, it is true that the FTC is being more aggressive in policing online activity and the assembled panelists should provide advertisers some clear insights into compliance issues.

Panelists include:

• Alan Chapell, President Chapell & Associates
• Alison Pepper, Director of Research of Public Policy at Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
• Jordan Mitchell, Vice President of Data Intelligence Rubicon Project
• Ingrid Sanders, Director AdAdvisor at TARGUSinfo

Crime Scene: Digital Identity Theft
Time: Friday March 12, 3:30PM
Hashtag: #digitalidtheft

The theft of digital identity is often easier and sometimes more damaging than identity theft offline. As social media mixes more with ecommerce this will become a larger problem. Learning methods to make that ID more secure is valuable information. Hopefully Bill has the sense to not make it too pitchy.

Panelists include:

• Bill Morrow, Chairman and CEO of CSIdentity
• Aaron Strout, CMO of Powered.com

Eight Ways to Deal with Bastards
Time: Friday March 12, 5PM
Hashtag: #8waysdealbastards

As the saying goes, no one ever has a good day in customer service. This is especially true when, let’s face it, some of your customers  are inevitably  bastards. This session offers a few copeing mechanisms.

Panelists include:

• Bryan Mason, Founder Small Batch Inc / Typekit
• Jason Shellen. CEO and Founder of Thing Labs
• Lori McLeese, Chief People Officer at  Room to Read
• Karen Walrond, Founder Chookooloonks Media

Big Brother in Your Brain: Neuroscience & Marketing
Time: Saturday March 13, 11AM
Hashtag: #bigbrotherinyourbrain

I’m a science geek, so when you mention the word “neuroscience” in a panel about marketing I’m ready to jack in. The concept of using MRIs to analyze brain activity when exposed to different marketing stimuli is very interesting. So is the brewing battle of math (analytics) vs. creativity; somehow I don’t see the two concepts as being mutually exclusive. All the makings of a great session!

Panelists include:

• Roger Dooley, Vice President Digital Marketing at Hobsons
• Gary Koepke, Co-Founder Modernista!
• Eric Kogelschatz, Co-Founder shark&minnow
• Dr. A.K. Pradeep, President and Chief Executive Officer NeuroFocus
• Dr. Danielle Stolzenberg, PHD University of Virginia

Sleeping Giants: Digital Awakens TV and Media
Time: Saturday March 13, 5PM
Hashtag: #designemergingmedia

Giants always follow the money. Or the beanstalk. Digital has now proved that  there is money to be made online, that it is sustainable, and can draw large clients; therefore, it should be no surprise that the giants of traditional media are paying attention. Sponsored by Razorfish, who should know a thing or two about the whims of giants, the session will take on fundamental impact digital will have for advertisers and marketers.

Panelists include:

• Domenic Venuto, Managing Director Client Solutions Razorfish
• Andrew Pimentel, Director, Account Planning at Razorfish

Selling Subculture Without Selling Out
Time: Sunday March 14, 12:30PM
Hashtag: #sellingsubculture

Having worked with Jones Soda online marketing efforts for nearly four years I know full well how difficult it is to balance the need to post large sales numbers with the imperative to protect the brand/consumer relationship. This session provides some guidelines on how to hit those numbers without selling out.

Panelists include:

• Richard Nash, Founder Cursor
• Raymond Leon Roker, Founder URB Magazine
• Molly Crabapple, Founder Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School
• Jeff Newelt, Publisher SMITH Magazine
• Gala Darling, Founder iCiNG

Online Advertising: Losing the Race to the Bottom
Time: Sunday March 14, 3:30PM
Hashtag: #racetothebottom

We spend a lot of time in this industry thinking about “how” and “where” to advertise. The concepts of building real relationships with publishers, making sure the advertising is doesn’t take away from the content, and respectfully dealing with the audience are all topics that are usually just paid lip service. Glad to see this session challenging us to change the way we think.

Panelists include:

• Jim Coudal, Principal Coudal Partners
• John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Open Science: Create, Collaborate, Communicate
Time: Monday March 15, 9:30AM
Hashtag: #openscience

Ok, I will admit this made the Top 10 because, well, as I stated earlier I’m a science geek. Ever since I interviewed Scott Maxwell for Gnomedex two years ago I’ve been fascinated about social media’s ability to pry open the doors of previously sequestered industries. It will be nice to see what progress NASA and others have made since then.

Panelists include:

• Ariel Waldman, Founder Spacehack.org
• Dr. Kirsten Sanford, Ph.D Neurophysiology, This Week in Science
• Jessy Cowan-Sharp, Collaborative Web Technology Developer NASA Ames Research Center
• Natalie Villalobos, Community Manager Google
• Tantek Çelik, Computer Scientist Microformats.org

Web Series 2.0: Big Campaigns on Digital Dollars
Time: Monday March 15, 11AM
Hashtag: #bigcampaigndigitaldollars

Big campaigns don’t always require big dollars. In the social space it is about smart engagement. Smart advertisers are turning to producers and content creators to help maximize their budgets. This is the perfect panel to find out how.

Panelists include:

• Melissa Fallon, Vice President of Television and Emerging Media Davie Brown Entertainment
• Chris Hanada, Co-Founder Retrofit Films
• Milo Ventimiglia, Co-Founder DiVide Pictures
• Wilson Cleveland, SVP + Director CJP Digital Media
• Andrew Hampp, Reporter Advertising Age

Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0
Time: Monday March 16, 11AM
Hashtag: #kivakillnonprofit

New fundraising models are changing the ways donors can interact with nonprofits. Kiva, of course, is one  a leading example of success from  such a model. While I don’t feel that the Kiva model will hurt the majority of nonprofits, I do feel that they will need to adapt to new methods of outreach to successfully maintain their donor base.

Panelists include:

• Skylar Woodward, Designer/Lender Kiva
• Ruth-Anne Renaud, Vice President of Women’s Philanthropy and Interactive Marketing Opportunity International
• Milo Sybrant, Online Fundraising Manager Amnesty International USA
• Michael Cervino, Vice President Beaconfire Consulting
• Katie Bisbee, Executive Director DonorsChoose.org

Hope you get back to your hotel in one piece and you enjoy the sessions at SXSW 2010.

Read more:
Top 10 Must See Interactive Sessions at SXSW 2010

It can be said that Jason Calacanis picks ventures that grow, even if he often doesn’t know what they do. Social shopping company ThisNext is no exception. Calacanis, who currently serves on their board and was an early financial backer, but still doesn’t seem to know that affiliate marketing is one of their monetization methods.

Nevertheless, despite such lack of clarity ThisNext continues to grow, announcing today that they have acquired competitor Stylehive for an undisclosed amount. Boasting 60,000 members Stylehive’s caters to a more female audience with products centering on the fashion and beauty markets.

The announcement also heralds the establishment of umbrella company Curatemedia that both companies will operate under. Prior to the acquisition ThisNext closed a Series C round of funding for $1.2 million dollars. The capital will be used to develop additional shopping tools, facilitate commerce functionality and to fuel the growth of Curatemedia into new verticals and categories.

They do have some heavy competition in the “social shopping” sphere with such sites as CNET Reviews, Kaboodle and Stylefeeder which was recently acquired by Time Inc. That of course is without taking into account the shopping that occurs on social networks like Facebook. Obviously this growth in social shopping proves CEO and Co-founder of Like.com Munjal Shah wrong when he stated that visual search was killing social search. That battle appears to be far from over.

Read the original post:
ThisNext Picks Up Stylehive

Recently The Virginia Senate has proposed Bill no. 660. Effectively, the same Advertising Tax that was passed and done significant damage to the small entrepreneurial internet marketing businesses in those states and cost small business jobs in the process.

States have started looking at these bills as a way to make money for their states in times of economic and budgetary turmoil. In California, arguably the State with the most financial troubles, Governor Schwarzenegger understood the effect that this bill would have on the entrepreneurs and jobs in his state and vetoed the bill.

Last night Governor Bob McDonnell delivered the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address. The full video of his response is below, but I wanted to call attention to some of his words in that response that clearly shows that he must follow Governor Schwarzenegger’s example and veto Bill 660, if it make it to his desk. He said the following:

“Here in Virginia we face our highest unemployment rate in 25 years, and bringing new jobs and more opportunities to our citizens is the top priority of my administration. Good Government policies should spur economic growth and strengthen the private sectors ability to create new jobs.”

And then Governor McDonnell followed that with the following at 1:49 in the video below and aired throughout most of the morning news broadcasts this morning:

“We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation so America can better compete with the world. What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kills jobs and hurt the middle class.”

Virginia Senate Bill 660 is a policy that will discourage entrepreneurship in Virginia. If enacted, the innovative entrepreneurs in the state will be dropped by the same merchants that the state hopes to obtain taxes from and the potential tax gains will be more than offset by the loss of revenue from these entrepreneural businesses and the employees they are forced to fire.

There are many Internet marketing and advertising companies in Virgina that earn their living through Internet advertising. They do not sell merchant products, nor do they even know who their customers are. These businesses earn revenue through advertising for out-of-state merchants. Upwards of 90% or more of their revenue comes from out-of-state merchants. Large advertisers like Overstock and Amazon have already put Virginia affiliates on notice, that if this bill progresses they will stop working with these entrepreneurial companies in Virginia, like they have in EVERY state that this Internet Advertising tax has been proposed. Those large advertisers are just the tip of the iceberg, many merchants will stop working with these entrepreneurial companies in Virginia, because we have seen it happen in New York and every other state where this Advertising Tax has been passed.

Please Governor McDonnell, we hope that you will help us insure that this bill never reaches your desk, but if it does, please Veto it. Don’t allow Virginia to enact a policy that squashes entrepreneurship and innovation in your state by piling on more taxation that will kill jobs and hurt the middle class of Virginia.

Respectfully yours,

Adam Viener
Chariman & Founder
Imwave, Inc.
Reston, VA

---

Governor McDonnell’s GOP Response to Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address Jan 27th, 2010:

Click here to view the embedded video.

More here:

Read more

Search experts are coming away from Google’s Search Event, held on December 7th in Mountain View, CA, with two words on their lips: “exciting” and “scary.” Both words aptly describe the most buzz-worthy new product to be unveiled at the event: Google Goggles.

In classic Google fashion, there is a friendly video overview of Google Goggles over at the Google Mobile Blog. For those who haven’t viewed it yet, Goggles brings picture search to Android phones in a big, big way. Here’s how it works:

• Using your Android phone, you snap a picture of a logo, a book cover, or even a storefront.
• Google Goggles identifies the object and then kicks back relevant information, whether its search results, user reviews, price comparisons or store hours.
• You can save your visual search history just like you save your regular search history via a web browser.

The examples on the website are pretty impressive. A snapshot of a certain iconic bridge in San Francisco makes Goggles instantly spit back “Golden Gate Bridge” and offer a Wikipedia entry for perusal, while a picture of a business card automatically parses out the name, phone number and email address.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But what’s more exciting, and scary, are the capabilities that Google Goggles will wield once it emerges from its infancy. The exciting aspects of visual search are easy to fathom. There’s many a time words fail us when we try to come up with an effective search query. Questions like: “What species of tree did this leaf come from?”, or “What kind of pill is this?”, or “Is this rash contagious?” will be far more answerable (much in the same way Midomi revolutionized the “name that tune” conundrum).

There are also vast opportunity for novel surprises and real world “Easter Eggs.” Say you’re snapping photos in the Louvre and Google Goggles chimes in with “Did you know: In 1956, Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at the Mona Lisa – you can still see the mark near her left elbow.” It’s like Pop-Up Video in real life.

The scary part doesn’t have to do with any kind of “Big Brother’s watching you” via a comprehensive database of everything you’ve ever looked at paranoia. You can opt out of maintaining a visual search history. Instead, it has more to do with what’s likely going to happen to search marketing once visual search becomes widely adopted. Here’s why:

For better or worse, everything on the web has been search engine optimized. We see coders working diligently to structure websites to accommodate spiders. We see publishers and businesses in heated competition over domain names on par with the real estate turf wars in metropolitan areas. And we’ve all become a little bit more tolerant of the sometimes unnatural wording that appears in webpage titles and article leads for the sake of key phrase placement.

What the future may hold

So, with the battle for search engine supremacy moving into the physical world, how might businesses optimize for visual search? Google openly (and needlessly) admits that visual search “works well for some things, but not for all”.  This will inevitably hold true even as the technology becomes more sophisticated. Things like the Pepsi logo are a piece of cake for Goggles, while things like a literal piece of cake might be tougher for Google to peg.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see design firms adding “visual search optimization” to their menu of services in the next five years. This could mean anything from altering your logo to further differentiate it from a competitor’s, to branding the architecture of your storefront to provide more identifiable cues for Google Goggles.

We might also see some unauthorized visual tweaks, too. Say,  Urbanspoon mobilized a street team to slap stamp-sized stickers on menus, welcome signs, front doors, flyers, and telephone poles so that everyone snapping a photo of a local eatery would also be presented a few choice reviews from their website. If this model is picked up every sign and landmark could potentially resemble something akin to the obligatory strip of social bookmarking icons we see at the end of every blog post.

Of course, plastering every flat surface with commercial graffiti isn’t anything new, but the depth of hypertextuality that visual search lends every recognizable entity in the physical world is. We’re all quite used to pulling up an article on the New York Times or a blog post on Gizmodo and having it flanked by advertisements, teasers for related articles, and all sorts of widgets and digital white rabbits. But what will a stroll through downtown be like when the world itself is full of hyperlinks? Through the lens of Google Goggles, Times Square (already ground zero for Google’s local voice search) might be transformed into a coupon book. A forest path becomes a veritable index of botanical research, with each leaf, flower bud and fungus linked to a corresponding encyclopedia entry.

It’s also important to consider the potential dark side of hypertextuality, which we already see today on the Internet. Search engine algorithms are, by nature, susceptible to exploitation, whether it’s mischievous (see: Miserable Failure) or self-serving (see: the vast underworld of Blackhat SEO). For visual search, it can be as innocuous and applicable as presenting a Geico ad when you snap a shot of a car accident. Or it can be as annoying and malicious as the real world equivalent of pop up ads, bait and switch tactics and other misleading advertisements. I can’t imagine what that equivalent would be, but I wouldn’t put it past the less scrupulous marketers to come up with some way to exploit visual search in a way that inserts a thorn into all of our sides.

What’s clear, though, is that visual search is going to shake things up by further blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds. Whether it’s going to be like Prometheus bringing fire to the mortals or like the Europeans bringing small pox to North America remains to be seen.

Excerpt from:
Google Goggles: The World is Your Hyperlink

David Lewis recently played an interesting prank on Jeff Molander. Industry veterans know these type of pranks have been going on since the inception of the affiliate marketing industry and they can even turn into learning experiences.

His prank and post prompted me to revisit Jeff’s Twitter account and his blog. In short- the tweets got my interest. An interesting side debate has been going on as Jeff is “calling bull on twittermania.” I decided to move the debate to the larger Revenews audience for thoughts.

Jeff asks:

“Precisely, what’s ROI anyway?”

I believe this was a rhetorical question, and Jeff was correct. However  I still hear many businesses talking about ROI with their typical myopic view.

There can be no precise measurement of ROI until certain criteria are met. Objectives must be defined, a methodical process applied, and results analyzed with logic. I won’t delve into the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle and how it applies.

Thus ROI will be measured differently based on varying goals.

The burning question now is: How does one measure the ROI of “social media”?

Social media is a misnomer. All media is social and always has been. It has been this way since cavemen learned how to etch messages on the wall with buffalo blood or figured out how to play with a sharp chisel without taking off a foot. I think the vast majority of so-called social media experts aren’t and merely riding the wave of popularity. Conversely, we could argue they are savvy marketers and providing services that clients are asking for. Either way, misguided experts can be likened to a motorcycle driver climbing into a train engine and convincing people it is easy to drive. The wrecks will come.

Jeff says:

…”engage in more digital fantasy stuff and you’ll stand a chance.”

How can MMO’s, MMORPGs, virtual worlds and services like Twitter be of any real value?

I have always studied these areas because they are fun, cutting edge, experimental and I feel they have or will offer demonstrable value.  Business is part execution, but more importantly- thinking ahead. I remember getting some heat about exploring these areas on some podcasts a couple of years ago. Frankly, I deserved it, as I didn’t have concrete answers to provide at the time. I do now.

Let’s look at a few examples of MMORPGs, the much maligned Second Life platform and micro-chunked communications like Twitter to see what they can do.

World of Warcraft

The CDC exploring WoW (World of Warcraft) to virtually map the spread of plagues and to define models to treat plagues and quarantine en masse. This is an experimental use, but when a real plague comes, and given the world’s fascination with antibiotics- it will come, the ROI will become crystal clear.  Tabulate the cost of a plague in dollars and society in general. Staggering.

Let’s look at another WoW example. China has made the bold move of banning the sale of “digital gold” or trading virtual currencies for goods. I have my own theories why this is going on, but  their wording  is pretty important.

“…virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.”

This is a big deal. More real money is traded on WoW in a year than many direct catalog companies make in three. Hundreds of millions are exchanged for virtual goods (across platforms) and some estimate this number to be as high as one billion USD- a year.

Second Life

Even the much maligned Second Life offers new glimpses into human behavior and interaction and how trends spread.  This has direct implications for business.

If you understand how avatars interact you can develop a whole new set of metrics. You can measure physical proximity, influence on how social circles impact buying patterns, interest levels and a lot more. As an aside, for SEO aficionados, SERPS in a virtual world, like Second Life, are fascinating to study and offer some intriguing insight into how Google works (Second Life uses a Google appliance.)

I will note that Second Life has numerous problems from a technical and commerce standpoint, and I imagine if they could get a “do-over” many things would be different. Still it is one of the most robust clients available. It will be replaced when something better comes along.

Being Agnostic

The value proposition / investigation is not about WoW. It is about the impact of MMO/MMORPGs. It isn’t about Second Life- it is about the emergence of digital worlds, 3D platforms and empowering people to create and interact. In the future these worlds will be ubiquitous.

Nor is it about Twitter. Let’s remove the brand name and look at it as an extensible technology with a robust API. It facilitates communication in a succinct, simplistic fashion. This information can be consumed and refashioned by a large array of networked devices. This information propagates in a number of ways. e.g. HTTP and SMS. I would not be surprised if services like Twitter and Facebook are rapidly driving the adoption of mobile technology and therefore mobile commerce.

In essence it is all about fast moving, micro-chunked information. When you want it and how you want it. It is not social media- it is personal media.

Twitter

Let’s look at a few merits of Twitter.

Twitter is driving sweeping social change. It is influencing ideas, mores, values, and politics. Even a cursory look at the Iranian election proves this. Twitter users are changing how news outlets cover events and how they take input from users.

News and Information exchanges created on these platforms move FAR faster then search, even faster than news networks like CNN or comedy shows like FOX News. It was almost tragic to watch Wolf Blitzer trying to report on Michael Jackson’s death 30 minutes after the news burned through Twitter- which is probably where they got the news. Granted CNN has to verify news, and user’s must be discerning in what they read and take up as fact, but that skill will and is growing fast.

It empowers users to rapidly exchange ideas and meet like-minded people without making a huge social commitment nor spend alot of time “social grooming“. Twitter empowers people to blow the top off of Dunbar’s Number and the limitations of our neo-cortex. For those new to social network theory, and I am not an expert, let me clip a recent piece I wrote on my personal blog. (Props to Jim Kukral for hosting.)

On Social Ties

“as merely a reference, bring up Dunbar’s Number (Dunbar predicted a human “mean group size” of 148 (rounded to 150) a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. Dunbar claimed “this a direct function of relative neocortex size, and that this in turn limits group size … the limit imposed by neocortical processing capacity is simply on the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained.”.

We might also look into Bernard-Killworth. These two researchers postulated a mean number of ties at 290. This is roughly double Dunbar’s estimate. (Bernard-Killworth median: 231 lower due to upward straggle in the distribution still higher that Dunbar.). Lastly, Christopher Allen has some interesting studies looking at Ultima Online communities and he actually moves the number of ties down. I don’t have a hard and fast number…and Dunbar’s Number is only an interesting reference here. I am more in the camp of Bernard-Killworth with social networks and with Allen on tighter knit groups that require cooperation. e.g. MMORPGs”

I now believe that both of these estimates are low and social ties might be impacted by the “relative density” of social networks. In other words, the more immersive and complex the environment the less the number of social ties developed. Services like Twitter, which require minimal social grooming, will boost the number and immersive environments like Second Life limit the number.

Attention = Revenue

As Brian Clark told me a decade ago- Attention = Revenue. Attention is hard to get these days. People are distracted, and pummeled by numerous distractions.

Therefore compressed communication fits the attention span of already strained attention. It enables the expansion of social networks.

The core takeaways for business. These new technologies may not produce the ROI you are looking for, but it directly impacts buying decisions, word of mouth recommendations, information flow, speed of transmission and CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

It is not all always about engaging, talking or selling- it is about listening.

I will sum it up with a typical “Porterism”: On Twitter you only have 140 characters so it forces people who meander, like me, to be succinct.

Tweet:

“Twitter metrics- Business would be better served to rethink ROI – Not Return on Investment, but Return on Interest. No interest- no return.”

Excerpted from:
ROI on Virtual Worlds, MMOs and Twitter

You’ll recall part 1 of my interview with Gordon Magee of Drs. Foster Smith.  I’m back to continue learning of his strategic, long-term approach to using video to drive multi-channel sales — and answering your specfic cost questions. After reading part 1 a good number of you wrote to me privately expressing hunger for information on cost.  Gordon didn’t get into the specific cost numbers with me but I can share some of his early struggles and “production / cost migration path” with you.  I wasn’t planning on it so thanks for asking.  I need to know what YOU need to know so keep comments coming please.

I’ll return to the overall measurement and “user generated content”  (use of video supplied by customers) questions in a few days.

Let’s first start by understanding the company’s multi-channel approach to advertising…

Gordon Magee: “This past year we decided we would go into television in a larger way. The owners decided to work on a broader campaign strategy for advertising. We have always done print media and that kind of thing as well but we kind of bundled print media and radio advertising. We haven’t done a lot of radio, but television as well.

So we created a television program. Then about a year ago or so I put in a proposal for us to get video on our website and create our own video studio. That got approved and we started building the studio this fall.”

It may be helpful for you to compare this kind of environment to your own when considering approaching cost and budgeting for ecommerce-focused video.  Next, Gordon shared the evolution of his company’s approach to Web video — specific to how they decided to build (invest internally) rather than lease (outsource).  It’s interesting to note that they were already “in video” by creating TV ads.

Gordon Magee: “We outsource in the sense that we use the production company, one in Los Angeles, one in the Twin Cities when we made the last, more recent commercials. We have used a California production company in the past. But the internal decision to create the video studio was definitely Web related as opposed to TV commercial related.

So they really were separate entities in terms of the business case. I think with the advent of higher speed Internet connections for most people these days – there are a smaller and smaller number that are still on dial-up – and then the infrastructure capabilities that the Internet has that’s going to make video just very, very common, even more so than it is now.

It seemed to be that it was the right thing to do. Our company’s ethos, Jeff has always been to do things internally and develop the expertise internally so that we are not dependent on outside sourcing whenever that’s possible. Because we are a catalog company and have essentially a pretty huge creative department, doing our own photography and that kind of thing forever since the advent of the company, the idea to move into video wasn’t a hard decision.”

So as it turns out Gordon’s approach was driven by the company’s traditional, long-standing belief in “owning” the creative production process and a realization that the distribution channel (the Web) WAS going to explode opportunity.

Gordon Magee: “Script development of course was helped greatly by our creative department who wrote script and art direction terms and then we tweaked those. So we had the internal expertise to try it and not be afraid to do it. So we just decided that we were going to go ahead with that.

I think it (the decision to outsource versus build your own competency) really has to do with people’s expectations. As you know, being in the Internet business, expectations on the Internet continue to rise for the consumer. I think the average consumer probably doesn’t realize the effort that goes into making a website very easy for people to use and all of the other things that are on there, ancillary things like video and articles and so on.

But I think with those expectations arising, we know that video is going to be huge. And certainly with things like YouTube and other sites like that, people are going to those sites. We wanted to be part of that for the educational side of the company.”

Yet there’s more to the company’s history that plays into it’s decision to invest in a PUBLISHING company within their direct response/ecommerce selling infrastructure…

Gordon Magee: “When the company started 25 years ago – this is our 25th anniversary literally this year – when they started we were owned by two veterinarians, Dr. Ray Foster and Dr. Marty Smith. When the company started, one of the things they wanted to do was educate pet owners to be able to use products better and to care well for their pet. That came out of their veterinary background.

Certainly that’s a good marketing strategy as well. But the primary thing was let’s make sure pet owners know what they are doing. They can make better buying decisions and so on.

When they started their catalog they went to catalog conferences. They were new at all this. The catalog experts said, ‘You know you guys are devoting way too much space to education in your catalog. You can’t do that on a square inch analysis basis and have it come out in a cost-effective way.’

They decided very early on to ignore that advice. They dedicated I think 10 to 15% of every catalog to educational articles. That really became our niche for the customer. It also provided a good marketing tool in that people kept the catalogs because the articles were in them.

Over time, that trust relationship developed with the customer. So we probably have more articles on pet care and more veterinary articles online than anybody in the country. So to go into video and do the same thing was just a natural outgrowth of what we have been doing for 25 years really.”

Like many pioneers, the founders were told “don’t do THAT!” when it came to innovating.  Much like Buy.com cut against the grain with its approach (proven successful by now?!) to mixing “media company” with “lowest price e-commerce company.”

What say you, Revenews readers?  I hope this may help clear up questions regarding costs and how to approach them in strategic terms.  I’ll return shortly to wrap up with final thoughts on Gordon’s measurement approach and use of user generated video content.

View post:
Case Study: Video Publishing to Drive Sales (PART II)

I’m going to start with a quick history of AOL. Back in the early days, AOL had Rainman, its proprietary coding language that was thankfully replaced by HTML. Only AOL didn’t get that the Web had made its simple walled garden obsolete until it was too late. Then AOL opened the doors and let its users go everywhere. At some point AOL bought Netscape and then did nothing with the browser, the content or the gateways to search and other areas of the Net. Then the gates slammed shut and you needed to be an AOL member to get to AOL’s proprietary content. Then they opened again. I’m not sure where the gates are today or if Time Warner burned them at some point. In other words, AOL rarely had a coherent or consistent plan on how to let its members onto the Web or Web surfers onto AOL. Did you hear that AOL is being spun off by Time Warner? And that’s not AOL Time Warner.

That brings us to Microsoft, the largest software company in the world and a company with one of the world’s highest market caps. You know that it must be a leader in anything it tries, especially something as critical as the Web. Remember years ago when everyone said that Microsoft had missed the boat and it was too late but Bill Gates announced MSN with much fanfare? Since that time, MSN has suffered AOLitis, that is, a lack of identity.

MSN lost to Google. MSN became Live.com while still being MSN at times. (I think there was even Start.com when Windows95 came out.) Live.com seemed like a good name. Not if you suffer from AOLitis. Live.com now redirects to Bing.com, Microsoft’s latest Web idea.

I have to give kudos to Microsoft for trying to start over from scratch at the 10 years of failure in search. Google won, we all know that. In fact, Google won to such an extent that the one well-designed part of the Bing interface is search results (both natural and paid) that look exactly like Google’s search results. (Sorry, I don’t have time to take screenshots today. It’s all there if you go to Google and Bing.)

Take a look at Bing. Do you get it from looking at it? What do hot air balloons have to do with search or any of the other features of the site? The one resounding comment from the quick poll I did was that people think that this looks like a typosquatter’s landing page, not the search engine of a top 3 Web property.

I wish Microsoft luck with its new search engine. I really and truly hope that it works. I would like to see a real competitor to Google. I think that the Web needs competition instead of one player with upwards of 80% control of the Web’s jumping off point. I just don’t see how Bing.com is the answer.

Comments on Techcrunch sum it up best. Many people think that Bing stands for But it’s not Google!

More here:

Read more

The idea behind barcode scanning is that customers can take a picture of a product UPC in a store with their mobile device, then cross reference this product in a price comparison database.

Publisher Spadout.com (“Sp”ort “Ad”venture “Out”doors) recently put out its public beta:

http://www.spadout.com/f/new-scan-barcodes-with-your-cell-phone/

Once the barcode is registered, the software will match its UPC against the database and deliver price comparisons at different stores. Pretty cool.

There is another publisher site called Barcle that has been around for a couple years. They have a Twitter page with the latest queries – twitter.com/barcle.

It’s not clear how many customers will take advantage of this service – judging from the frequency of Twitter updates on Barcle, usage is relatively light. But Spadout has gotten some good immediate traction. It does seem like there is great potential for this type of service and I imagine the primary beneficiaries will be brick and mortar stores, because the price check (even if it is better online) will act as “permission to purchase” for the price-conscious shopper, similar to the function that coupon sites serve so well.

The publisher will, hopefully, see some revenue from this software and should be aided by the strengthened relationship with the customer. Spadout.com, for example, has a devoted fan base.

I think there is also a use for this outside of the store. One additional use is scanning bar codes for items you already bought that you are likely to purchase again, such as food. Price-sensitive grocery shoppers may someday be able to compare prices with food products from different stores in the area.

Cool Publisher Barcode Scanning Tools

Affiliate Summit West 2009 in Las Vegas came to an end this Tuesday. I am always fascinated by the fact that I get something out of it, which I had no idea about when I entered the airplane in Fresno last weekend to go to the conference. Sure, I always like to get back in touch personally with the friends and business partners who I more often than I’d like to, neglected during the past months.

A large part of the year 2008 was again sucked away by some invisible force, which cannot be explained with any know law of physics. I just had the feeling that the year was by no means anything as close to 365 days in length. 120 days is probably much closer to the “felt” length of the previous year. No computer will change this feeling of mine. I know it were 365 days, but try to get this message to my intuition and my guts.

Getting Efficiency Back into Performance Marketing

I stumbled across an interesting article by Jeff Molander, CEO of Molander and Associates, which was published in May 2008 at the UK marketing research company blog by eConsultancy (like a Brit version of MarketingSherpa / MarketingExperiments).

I didn’t see this one when it was published it last year. As I mentioned already, it was written in May 2008. Now it’s January 2009. I suggest that you are going to read Jeff’s article, it is most certainly worth your time.

Where are we today? Did things change? … I don’t think that they did very much… a little bit, true; I have to be fair with that one.

The holistic approach should be taken beyond affiliate marketing and applied to all marketing activities that can be tracked somehow, online and offline (pay-per-call is getting more and more mature these days)

eBay Seems to be Leading the Pack once more

I attended this Tuesday at the summit a session by Steve Hartmann und William Martin-Gill from the auction giant eBay.com. The affiliate manager(s) from eBay were giving a presentation that I found pretty interesting. I did not follow the eBay program during the last year very much; I have to admit to my discredit so what they were talking about was all news to me.

eBay does pay affiliates based on the value and quality of the business that they refer. This is not in beta, they doing this across the board today already.

This shift that eBay underwent after they moved their program away from Commission Junction and brought the whole program in-house was also causing a shift within their programs list of top 100 affiliate partners (they said that, not me). They were basically able to clean up the house. Sure, they lost some publishers over this, but why bother; those publishers were the ones that only sent low quality traffic along their way. The publishers who send great traffic on the other hand, saw their commission double and quadruple instead.

Affiliate Marketing Worldwide

Affiliate Marketing in Europe being behind the U.S.? Look again!

I also touch-based with some European affiliate networks and German OPMs, specifically with Deputy Managing Director Torben Heinmann from TradeDoubler Germany (which does not have a presence in the United States … YET), Markus Kellermann Head of Affiliate Marketing and some of his colleagues from eXplido Web Marketing.

They actually implemented already tracking technology that is capable to provide analytics and commission structures attached to that data, which goes beyond the mere “last click” and “banner impression” of how U.S. Networks track stuff since the day when Amazon.com launched their partner program soon to be 15 years ago. They basically do some crude multiple-touch-point tracking of clicks and content views (e.g. video watches). Nothing as sophisticated as some of the top web analytics solution providers is capable of, but hey, it’s going into the right direction.

Nothing new from our old, big and fat networks here in the States. It seems that they try to ignore the changes around them for the greater part, hoping that things will be as good (for them) as they always were. I get the feeling that some executives at those networks (I won’t mention names) live in some state of denial of the realities of this industry.

Europe did not only catch up; they surpassed us already!

In 2003, Germany and the rest of Europe seemed to live in the affiliate marketing stone age. Over the years, this huge gap got smaller. After I learned at ASW about what they are already doing today, I’d say that there is no sign of this old gap anymore at all, quite the opposite… A gap is opening again, but this time the other way around.

U.S. based networks who continue to live in their bubble, will one day go down together with it, if they don’t start getting their act together soon and do some catching up with the rest of the people on this planet.

My Personal Affiliate Summit West 2009 Session and Panel Highlights

What was the IMO most Disappointing Session at ASW 2009?
Believe it or not, I was actually able to manage seeing a bunch of the educational sessions at the Summit. The picks that I made were pretty diverse. The first session where I was able to make it to on Sunday was the session/panel about “Ethical Issues in Affiliate Marketing“. It was moderated by Haiko de Poel Jr. from ABestWeb.com and included the panelists Brian Littleton, CEO of the affiliate network ShareASale, old-school super affiliate Connie Berg, founder and owner of the top-coupon web site FlamingoWorld.com, among other successful affiliate projects, OPM Chuck Hamrick from Affiliate Crew and last but not least a guy from a toolbar development company and subsidiary of Rakuten, who owns the LinkShare affiliate Network. (I am sorry, I cannot remember the guys name. He jumped in last minute for Paul Nichols from eBates.com)

The session was a bit of a disappointment for me. I don’t think that it was the fault of Haiko or any other panelist in the room that the session pretty much fell flat on its face and was over after 40 minutes already (20 minutes too short), because nobody had anything to comment, ask or say at the end.

I think that biggest problem was that right from the start more than just one major industry problem became the herd of elephants in the room. It was impossible to tackle all of them at the same time, because it takes much more than the time available for average comments and questions to even scratch the surface of just one of the issues that filled up the room like smog the L.A. city limits during rush hour in summer.

Maybe we should try one issue at a time the next time around. I don’t know. It’s tough and my suggestion to the approach of the subjects might falls as flat on its face as the approach last Sunday.

What was the IMO most Productive Session at ABW 2009?
I would say that is title has to go to the panel “Super Affiliate PPC Marketing Strategies” moderated by Anik Singal of Affiliate Classroom and panelists Rosalind Gardner, author of the Super Affiliate Handbook and CEO of WebVista, Inc., Colin McDougall, author of the VEO Report and CEO or the VEO 2.0 Elite Certification Course and last but not least, super affiliate and fellow blogger Amit Mehta, CEO of Performance Marketing Worldwide and author of the blog Super Affiliate Mindset.

The panel was very well moderated and thought through by moderator Anik Singal (hey, it’s the experience from teaching at Affiliate Classroom and PPC Classroom I guess). The panelists themselves were also top of the crop, long time affiliate marketing professional with hands on and real as reality gets experience in various different areas and niches of this industry.

It was demonstrating nicely to the audience that there is simply no silver bullet in this business. There are numerous different (and sometimes even conflicting) ways to be successful as an affiliate marketer.

Why I think that this session was the most productive? Very simple answer: All of the panelists were speaking blunt honest about everything they did right and where they screwed up. No panelist was holding back any secrets and answered any of the many asked questions as good as humanly possible. I don’t think that anybody who was asking a question walked away without an answer or at least with a sack full of ideas and things to check, measure, verify or test.

After the session was officially over, all panelists remained where they were and did not leave until they responded to/answered the questions that people who approached them personally, were asking them. I stood next to a visitor who was getting a crash course in PPC campaign creation and initial testing by Amit. The tips were not vague at all… real figures and numbers were given. Tools mentioned by name and URL, even the personal unknown favorites, which might provide a cutting edge over competitors, while you know about them and they do not.

Very refreshing!

What was the IMO most Enjoyable Session at ABW 2009?
The session that was one hour long, but felt like 30 minutes or less, while getting a ton of specific tips and information, the none-specific, but bloody honest truth (test-test-test-test, don’t guess or assume = work), mixed in with some humorous, interactive and engaging segments to get the crowds full attention while at the same time help the listeners to relax a bit to be able to suck in more facts about a somewhat dry and boring subject. Well, a subject that involves hands on the job work, and separates facts from fiction. What I am talking about? “Landing Page Testing to increase Conversion“, presented all by its lonely self, Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTurner.com and author of the book “Landing Page Optimization“, which I can also highly recommend buying by the way. I wrote a short review about it on Search Engine Journal when it came out.

Tim knows his stuff and is not kidding around. At the same time he knows how to present structure and perform a presentation that is never boring for even a second and where you walk away from with the feeling and knowledge, that you learned something new, that you did not know or even thought about before the session.

What Else is New?

I did a video interview with Angel Djambazov, Marketing Manager at PopShops.com and Kellie Stevens from Affiliate Fairplay at Affiliate Summit West 2009 at the Rio all-suites hotel and casino, January 11-13, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 13, 2009. The interview is about ReveNews.com where Angel is Editor in Chief and about Kellie’s commitment to write some posts for ReveNews.com, if Angel will send her some premium coffee from his home in Seattle, Washington. Kellie’s posts are something that is worth looking forward to. Kellie did win Affiliate Summit Pinnacle Award for Affiliate Marketing Legend the day prior to this interview for some good reasons. Billy Kay also made a commitment I got told by Angel, but unfortunately I was unable to get this commitment on camera by Billy himself.

Here is the video interview. Also mentioned in the Video were Wayne Porter and Pat Grady.

More ReveNews.com Bloggers Wanted
Furthermore, Angel mentioned that despite the various new ReveNews.com bloggers he was able to get to write and contribute to this blog, especially experts in the social media space; RN still needs some expert voice and opinions to other relevant and important subjects, such as Net Neutrality and/or Internet Security. Those subject used to be coved well in the past, by another Affiliate Marketing Legend (the first one actually) and co-founder of this web site, Wayne Porter.

Unfortunately does Wayne not write as much (and long, longer than mine, seriously hehe) as he used to not too long ago. This is sad, but nothing Angel or I can do much about it, except for hunting down some experienced security experts with some writing skills to fill the huge void that the absence of Wayne created here.

Some Fun at the End to Loosen Up a Little Bit
I published a second video, which is only one minute in length about the Affiliate Summit Triathlon. It’s actually a funny video. I hope you will enjoy it, but do not forget the serious issues that I was pointing out in this post over all this fun and excitement.

Affiliate Summit West 2009 Triathlon Best of – Crashes

Okay, that is enough now!

I can already see Shawn Collin’s face, when he looks at this post of mine and thinking to himself “Gee, again one of Carsten’s overly long blog posts that I am not able to read entirely, because my attention span does never exceed 500 words at one time“.  Sorry Shawn, but I hope that my paragraph headings will help that you are not missing too much of the facts and details of my post hehe.

Cheers!

Carsten Cumbrowski

Check out my free collection of useful internet and affiliate marketing resources at Cumbrowski.com. All the hard research work done for you already, that you don’t have to. You’re welcome!

Read the original post:
Affiliate Summit West 2009 Recap and the Issues Ahead for the Year 2009 and Beyond

Here is a very interesting interview with one of the programmers for Direct Revenue where he talks about how he uninstalled viruses and adware and how they kept them from doing the same to them. He also talked about how they were slowly able to talk him into doing stuff for them.

It was funny. It really showed me the power of gradualism. It’s hard to get people to do something bad all in one big jump, but if you can cut it up into small enough pieces, you can get people to do almost anything.

I actually believe that if you sum up everything I did it comes out positive, if only because I kicked off an awful lot more adware than I installed. Source: philosecurity

Which reminds me of Wayne’s post about the Slow cracking of our teacups and how we won’t stand for someone to break our cups, but we don’t mind a crack here or there. It also reminds me of one of my first posts where I interviewed someone who worked for 180solutions, 180 From The Inside Out.

It’s an interesting read if only to see how a programmer could work for an adware company like Direct Revenue, and even more interesting to note that they turned down many things that they asked them to do. That might be a good follow up interview. I would bet that many people would say they failed in respect to keeping the software from being installed through exploits. He also said that antivirus companies were actually removing a registry key that kept the software from being installed again. Just think, Microsoft could’ve stopped them with one registry key update from Windows Update.

Original post:
Interview with a Direct Revenue Programmer

I was updating and expanding my affiliate product data feeds and APIs resources at Cumbrowski.com, in particular the resources to the product feeds and store builder feature provided by the PepperJam affiliate network, which was launched about one year ago.

I liked what I saw overall, although some items were IMO a great idea, but then implemented half way only, probably without intending it.

Free? Hurray!

Product data are available to any affiliate without any cost directly via the PepperJam Network web interface. There is also a coupon feed available, in delimited format and RSS format (using some custom tags outside the RSS definition). They also have a tool called “store builder” (product show-case creator), which is similar to the tools available through third party tools providers like PopShops.com, GoldenCan.com, DataFeedFile.com or FeedShare.com.

Data Delivery via HTTP

Providing the feeds directly via HTTP, accessible via any web browser is a smart, efficient and cost effective solution. There is no need to charge any fee for setup or maintenance, because there is really nothing to setup. Via a, what you could call, “special page” are the product data rendered into the web browser in simple delimited text format, without HTML tags or anything like that. This is close to the format how the networks developer gets the same information out of their product catalog database, without the need for the developer to write a fancy, functional and error free user interface to browse the products.

The product information can be pulled and rendered into the browser in real-time.

Large Feeds

Since no FTP account needs to be created and no static product feed files created to be picked up by the affiliate via FTP client software, a whole new set of options become available and possible. No disk space is wasted on files that are not being picked up and no server CPU is spending a single cycle of processing power on it, until the affiliate publisher actually requests it.

True, there are some challenges, if you use HTTP as delivery method, if the amount of product s requested and downloaded is very large. However, 99% of all merchant product feeds do not fall into this category and even the merchants who have such large feeds (e.g. Buy.com, Overstock.com or Walmart.com) learned that it makes sense to break up their huge 1 million+ products big data feeds into smaller chunks, because it is never an easy undertaking to process over 1 million product records all at once, regardless if you download them via FTP or not.

Since HTTP requests can be handled and processed in real-time, the option to provide filters to reduce the amount of data returned, is now suddenly also (or should be) of the interest of the network.

It used to be an interest of the affiliates only (for the most part). I remember the time when I downloaded gigabytes of junk data every day, because there was only the choice between “everything” and “nothing”. Well, nothing was really an option, so you had to deal with all the overhead that you did not need.

Imagine the Possibilities

The real-time factor does allow the setup of virtually an unlimited number of filters. It is sad that affiliate networks who utilize HTTP for product data delivery are not making much use of this. A filter by product category, advertiser and keyword should only be the very least at the beginning.

When I was an affiliate manager in 2003 for a retailer who had the affiliate program with Commission Junction, the first thing I did was the creation of an affiliate intranet where publishers could create an account and pull product information and more. The intranet was initially created to solve the issues of not having contact information of any publisher (a CJ “feature”) , avoiding the $750 setup fee for the product catalog at CJ itself and the up to $250 setup fee for each publisher in our program that did not qualify for the free access to product feeds through CJ.

The intranet required a second registration, which is tough. We had to offer an incentive to do this. That was when we came up with features that were impossible to provide via the traditional network and the way how they did (and to some degree still do) things. For example it was possible to pull the top XXX number of best-selling products for the whole site or specific categories only and also the time-frame of the sales, ranging from “this month” to “all-time”. This enables the discovery of seasonal trends or sudden “hot” items that are new in the product catalog.

Those are only a few examples. Use your imagination and I am sure that the possible opportunities that come out as a consequence of it would be great, if at least some of the ideas will be implemented.

Web Services instead of Delimited Text via HTTP?

You might say that all this is what the new hot feature “web services” is supposed to be doing.

Yes and No. The border between web services and delimited feeds with several filter options provided via HTTP gets blurry, no doubt about that, but the technical details how similar they might appear are still different. The question whether to use a delimited feed or a web service (if available) still remains to be answered on a case-by-case basis. In some cases a combination of both does make sense.

Btw. as with web services, providing other data via HTTP beyond product and coupon data makes sense also, including reporting data or general program information about active or possible merchant/advertising partners.

One thing that PepperJam forgot over the nice and easy access to the product data via HTTP is the need for automated access to the data. HTTP is great and the link provided, updated based on my selections even better, but all this is of no use for many affiliates, if they have to be logged-in to the networks web interface in order to use the URL provided to them.

If I log-off and try the feed URL, no records are returned. Not good!

Automated Access without Login

PepperJam were not the first nor last who made this mistake. I remember LinkConnector.com having the same problem. I contacted them a while ago, suggesting to them to remedy this short-coming. I need to check, if they actually did anything or not. I could not send them sample source code as I did with Kolimbo (MyAffiliateProgram), where I could tell that they are using Microsoft Active Server Pages, where I am familiar with.

The affiliate network AvantLink.com did it right from the start. I wrote about it, when they launched, what they called their “AvantLink API Module“. Well, AvantLink had and has the reputation to be very knowledgeable about the subject of feeds and APIs.

You can have a look at their solution to see how they made it possible to provide access to the data in an automated fashion but at the same time doing it in a controlled manner without the option for anonymous access to the content.

If you do not want or like to see what another affiliate network is doing, fine, how about Google?

If you used the Google Calendar, you probably noticed the feature to pull your private events as a feed via an obscure URL provided by Google with the note that you must not give the URL to anybody, because it would give that person access to your feed as well. The protection is the obscure code in the URL that is virtually impossible to guess by anybody.

In the case that you think that the URL did leak out somehow, the option is available to render that URL invalid and generate a new unique and private URL for the same content.

I think you got the idea behind this.

PepperJam Sample Source Codes

Oh, btw the coupon feed provided by PepperJam Network does not require to be logged in to pull it. The lack of tags for start and end date of a promotion in the RSS version of the feed limits its possible uses, but I provided an example with source code for how to use it.

I also put the source code of a Visual Basic Script on my website that works around the problem of the need to be logged in to the web interface in order to pull the product feeds. I added a bunch of command line options to make it as flexible as possible for the use by affiliates to automate the pickup of product data from PepperJam.

Documentation? Configuration?

Last but not least. Is it really that hard to provide some notes about the general structure of the delimited feed (column and row separators, first row having column names or not, escaping of content that contains column or row delimiter) and to each column in the file about its use, possible values and format, which columns are required and always must have appropriate data provided by the merchant (and verified by you, the network)? Since the output data are generated on the fly, how about letting the publisher choose the format himself? We did that at our affiliate intranet too. The feed format preferences were simply stored with the affiliates intranet account. Some folks prefer tab-delimited, others pipe and there are even folks who like to deal with the mess that a CSV feed can create, if created improperly. The Linux guys prefer a simple Line-Feed after each record, the Windows guys a carriage-return plus a line-feed and the Mac guys just a carriage-return. Let each have it the way they like it.

I did as in almost every case educated guesses again by looking at actual product feed data from various selected merchants. But why should I do the guessing, if you are in the know and just forgot to write it down and share with your publisher base? “Should” and “Seems Obvious” is not good enough here. Once you automated the download, import, processing and publishing of a feed, having guessed wrong becomes more than a minor inconvenience, especially if it would have been easily avoidable early on.

Cheers

Carsten Cumbrowski
Internet Marketer, Blogger and Entrepreneur

Cumbrowski.com, the resources portal for internet marketers. The content is free, no strings attached.

The rest is here:
Affiliate Data Feed Delivery via HTTP

In an era when we’re all interacting with the world through our gadgets, be they mobile devices or GPS systems, our relationship with information and each another is drastically changing. The old media model of one-way broadcast communication has morphed into an intergalactic web of cross pollinating ideas, opinions, and information. The ubiquitous availability of peer-based information and the socialization of media have paved the way for a new kind of connectivity between businesses and their community .

Brian Solis of PR 2.0 recently introduced an exciting model for optimizing the rampant availability for online connectivity called MicroPR, a PR resource for journalists, bloggers, and analysts on Twitter. The passion behind the project conspires to create new communities and communication channels that will ultimately change the information ecosystem.

Below is an example of the MicroPR information flow that uses Twitter, (a free social networking and micro-blogging service allowing users to send and read other users’ updates,) to share PR questions, resources, news, and feedback with all those interested in connecting with the PR community:

The MicroPR project is an exciting project to participate in and as with any innovative application of social tools, I believe it’s a powerful model for new media marketing strategists. There’s no reason why the same equation can’t be applied to your business or brand.

Community + Business + Twitter = Brand Ambassadors

I liken the MicroPR profile, as a basecamp for all the people and professionals associated with your business; a place to mingle, and a place to share and swap ideas, resources, news, feedback, and questions. The key is to give people a reason to mingle.

Think of exploiting a unique aspect of your brand and something that provokes either conversation or encourages people to get online and grab it: offer product specials, design an online treasure hunt, create a multi-media contest using Flickr or YouTube, or give way insider tips. Think of your basecamp as platform for listening and response, a platform to get valuable and instant feedback, and not a one-way broadcast channel. Think mingle!

The MicroPR project is but one inspiration in a seemingly limitless list of online opportunities for community building, branding, and marketing. Twitter now boasts over six million registered users and continues to grow exponentially. Twitter’s phenomenal growth and ability to keep us all hyper-connected is nothing short of awesome but also proves people’s desire to stay connected. It’s a huge tip for new media marketers and should encourage your business or brand to find their own unique way to get in on the action. continue reading…

You break your back running your blog, but as months roll by, your number of RSS subscribers can still be counted on two hands. It’s a depressing situation, and it can make you question the whole point of blogging. Don’t get down on yourself; there are several things you can do to increase your blog subscribers.

It Starts with the RSS Icon…

This might seem fairly obvious, but I’ve seen enough people overlook it that it warrants mentioning. You can’t expect anyone to subscribe to your blog if they don’t know how or where to do it. That’s why you need an RSS icon asking people to subscribe to your blog.

When people visit your blog, their eyes should be directed to the RSS icon on your page. By making your picture easy to see, you make it fast and easy for people to follow your blog. In my opinion, it’s best to have a large RSS icon above the fold, so that it can be seen the second someone visits your page.

Now, Onto the Content…

One of the reasons people might not subscribe to your blog is the focus is too broad. If your readers don’t know what to expect from you on a post to post basis, they won’t follow your blog. That’s why it’s so important to do one subject and to do it well. By focusing on one particular niche, your audience will be highly targeted and you’ll gain authority in your field.

Once you decide which niche you’ll focus on, you have to write quality optimized content (for higher search engine placement) that keeps people coming back. The key here is to distinguish yourself from all the other blogs in your industry. Don’t settle for being just another blogger parroting the same themes time and time again. Take a chance. Give your honest opinion on subjects and tackle every topic with a fresh perspective. Even if people don’t agree with what you say, they’ll respect you for having an original thought and for not being another “me too” blogger.

Don’t Forget about Daily Blog Management

Hopefully, you’re now at the point where you’ve found your place and you’re writing quality content. Now, you need to focus on the daily management of your blog. Keeping up with the little things will help you attract and keep blog subscribers.

The first part of daily upkeep is publishing content on a regular basis. I can’t even begin to tell you how many RSS feeds I’ve unsubscribed to because the author published on the rarest of occasions. You can’t gain any traction if you don’t follow a consistent posting schedule. That’s not to say that you must post every day, but at least every couple of weeks is necessary to keep people interested in your blog.

The other part of daily blog management is responding to your comments. Interaction is what makes blogging so powerful. For this reason, it’s essential that you provide thoughtful responses to your blog commentators. Show your readers the respect of giving them detailed, engaging responses, and they’ll feel like a part of your community. Building relationships with your readers is the key to gaining a solid subscriber base.

Now, get out there and start growing your blog subscribers! Stay committed to your goals, and eventually your blog will live up to your expectations.

Original post:
How to Increase Your Blog Subscribers

Happy Birthday to Commission Junction which turned 10 years old today. Below is a rather funny video featuring Kerri Pollard and other CJ folks which was released in celebration. Always happy to see a network not take itself too seriously, enjoyed the video far more than the press release.

View post:
Commission Junction Turns Ten

I mentioned to several people at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas, the story of what happened to me to illustrate that the social media space is still the unknown frontier for most people out there.

The folks, who are working and playing at the edge, sometimes do not realize how far out they actually are and that the mainstream sometimes is far beyond the “horizon”, having no idea about what you are doing and about the environment you are active in.

I used my personal (not very much marketing related) blog to write in detail about the issue that I ran into, because it involves me as a person and legal stuff,where I don’t want to get ReveNews.com as a separate entity into. You can find the details at my personal blog, but the underlying general issue is worth talking about here.

There is also a rather funny part to be added to the whole story, which is missing in my other post and that I would like to tell you here, in video format. I am trying to do a bit more with video. I am not an American, so you are forced to listen to a thick German accent. However, the video format has multiple advantages. One, it’s quicker to record a video and just talk (what I do a lot) than writing down everything that I want to say (what I also do a lot or did in the past). Second, the video format should be easier to digest for you. I also have the opportunity to show stuff, rather than just talk about it. I am open to comments, suggestions, complaints and praise. You can express your thoughts in the comments section below.

Backup link to video on YouTube.com
Download the Video in .AVI format and 640×480 resolution via MediaFire.com

p.s. I have to make a correction to what I said in the video. The physical laws are of course the same on Earth as they are on the Moon. The correct verbiage would have been to say that the conditions on the Moon are very different to that on Earth.

General Take-Away

The general take-away from this post, video and the post I referred to is that you should sit down and check and re-evaluate your internal policies and rules regarding your copyright protected content, which you already have in place for traditional media and publications to determine if those policies and rules are still making sense in the social media realm or not. This is especially important, if you have employees who follow those rules and enforce those policies across all media channels on your behalf.

The regular clerk in Marketing or Legal will not question the rules and policies that were set in stone for him. It is up to the management and executives who established those rules to make the necessary changes for the changing media landscape and those new distribution channels that your content is taking, legally or not so legally. You cannot apply the same rules to a customer and fan of your products, which expands on your marketing message and (in his eyes) improves or clarifies it, as you apply to your distribution and traditional media publishing partners.

Cheers!

Carsten Cumbrowski

Cumbrowski.com, Internet Marketing Resources and information about/background of Carsten.

Read the original:
New Media – New Conditions Require New Policies and Rules