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My Top 5 List of Top Whatever Lists: Happy New Tech New Year 2010

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Tis the season of lists. Too many lists? Maybe or maybe not, depending on whether or not you are looking for some perspective, or maybe some bottom line insights about trends and/or tips on how you or your organization’s tech, social media or just plain ole marketing priorities should be focused for the coming year.

My high hopes are that the following list of lists (and grand perspectives) will help you make 2010 the best yet:

5. Super Geek David Pogue’s Pogie Awards
My favorite NYTimes tech writer’s picks for gadgets, apps & such include the killer Firefox extension READABILITY and a very funny (to me) iPhone app that let’s you safely text while walking, by using the iPhone’s built-in camera.

4. Google’s 2009: A Glimpse of the Web’s Next Decade
At least at the moment, as Google goes, so goes the Web. And, if you haven’t noticed, Google is hardly standing still. In fact, they have been innovating their butts off. So, if you’re not tuned in, you should be; and this post by Mashable is packed with eye-candy charts that help make staying up to date more fun.

3. YouTube Is the Top Social Media Innovation of the Decade
Also, via Mashable, and also not technically a Top Whatever list, I’m including this post because I think the importance of YouTube is about as important as it gets. For one thing, YouTube is frequently omitted from lists of social networking sites. Come on! This thoughtful article explains why I’m going to be posting a whole lot more video in 2010 and why I think you should too.

2. 8 Things Every Geek Needs to Do Before 2010
This post is beyond practical, it could literally save your life (technologically speaking). No kidding. Have you backed up lately? Have you edited your privacy settings and pruned your feeds? This is important stuff (via leading tech blog ReadWriteWeb) that can help make your whole year better.

1. 2000s Decade Recap – Business and Technology (video below)
Originally called to my attention by the TechCrunch post Video: A Decade Of Tech Highs And Business Lows, the 3:22 video below puts the past unprecedented decade in perspective, and given the magnitude of the changes, from the dot-bomb implosion through ground-breaking iPhone innovations and social media explosions, I think it’s worth taking at least 3 minutes or so to reflect. Don’t you?

As the Grateful Dead sang, “What a long strange trip it’s been.”

May the Tech Highs continue, and the Business Lows not so much.

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Posted in Google, iphone, small biz e-biz, social media marketing, technology, video, youtube | 5 Comments »

Search Engine Ranking Factors Clearly Illuminated

Friday, October 5th, 2007


For those of us who work (either for ourselves or for clients) is pursuit of organic or natural search engine rankings for targeted keyword phrases, there is a slew of information out there about both the on-page and off-page factors that contribute to these rankings (as I explain in my internet marketing ebook: “EBiz Express: What Every Business Should Know About Internet Marketing“).

I’m writing not only to make this shameless plug, but also to share a new resource that I just found that aggregates the opinions of an impressive selection of experts in order to indicate which of the various factors carry the most weight (according to these experts). As something of an expert myself, I found this interactive page to be informative and useful. Thus, I recommend to you:

SEOmoz’s Google Search Engine Ranking Factors V2

Enjoy.

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Posted in internet marketing, search engine optimization, search marketing, small biz e-biz, small business | No Comments »

The Digital Ad Biz Beginning to Sprout & the Seed of an Idea

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

We are way too early in this to be talking about blossoming, but the sprouts or seeds that are the revolution of the advertising business going totally digital, totally accountable, totally targeted and totally interactive are HUGE!

I cover the basics in my internet marketing ebook, and today’s New York Times covered how Microsoft is trying to catch up with Google in this arena. This is a good article packed with perspective.

At one point, this NYT article emphasizes how advertising-supported free media is winning out over subscription models by pointing out that, “In recent days, two prominent news Web sites — The New York Times and The Financial Times — said they were scaling back attempts to charge subscription fees for some of their content.”

And then Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer says, “As much as people sometimes like to pick bones with advertising, people much prefer an ad-funded experience to one that they pay for.”

Hey, isn’t this the guy who runs a software company that sells more software (and software upgrades) than any other company on earth?

He continues: “Even the basic software that we’ve delivered for so many years — if it can be ad-funded in the way it gets delivered to consumers, it probably will be ad-funded.”

In other words, free ad-supported digital media will rule, and digital advertising will blossom into channels of humongous proportions… proportions that make Google as it exists today seem small.

Bottom line, they all agree that it’s ALL going digital and this will change everything. Personally, I’m interested in building an advertising “on-ramp” for small businesses… A web application platform that would guide small business users so that they could leverage the advantages of the new media & advertising world. This is seriously needed by millions of small companies.

Like I’ve been saying for years, we need communication bridges spanning the grand canyon gap between people and technology… Anyone want to play?

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Posted in small biz e-biz, small business | No Comments »

A Good Lesson in Email Subject Lines

Thursday, April 12th, 2007

This is a basic issue for anyone who sends out email announcements or email newsletters. It’s crucial to your “open rate” that the subject line be compelling and engaging. One useful point here that I’ve wondered about but never heard clearly defined is the 56-character space limit. Solid guidance. Dr. EBiz is generally a good resource too…

http://www.wilsonweb.com/email/sugarman-subject-1.htm

The ConstantContact.com service’s learning center also recently published a two-part series of articles on this subject.

Meanwhile, my ebook on Internet Marketing should be completed “real soon.” Stay tuned.

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Posted in e-marketing, small biz e-biz | 1 Comment »

Great Basic Search Marketing Tips

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Here are some very important pointers that are also some of the most common mistakes made by websites who want to be found by the search engines, and especially for those who want their websites to rank well for targeted keyword phrases. (This is also known as search engine optimization, SEO or SEM.)

http://seoclass.com/blog/7-homework-items-to-complete-before-any-seo-class/

(FYI, my e-book on internet marketing for small business is coming “real soon”)

BTW, heads up for NonProfits… The organization who created the tips linked above, SEOClass.com is offering its workshop FREE for nonprofits only, this month only.

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Posted in search engine optimization, search marketing, small biz e-biz | No Comments »

Google Apps Offers New Lowcost Website, Email Strategy for Small Businesses

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007


There are many ways to look at the launch of Google’s new Apps platform, but for me, it looks like a pretty cool and very low cost ($50/year/user) way for a small business to do a web site without traditional hosting, and with a bunch of neat features.

Because it supports direct domain (as well as sub-domain) hosting and includes integrated e-mail as well as a bunch of features (from Google Page Creator for creating web pages to calendars and other forms of collaboration), it’s quite powerful. More info here specifically for small businesses.

I think the biggest challenge will be having small businesses understand the scope of what’s being offered.

On the other hand, the bigger business story for larger enterprises and the broader IT market is that Google is Challenging Microsoft (NYTimes) with a service that offers email and more for $50/user vs $225/user annually using Office and Exchange.

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Posted in small biz e-biz, small business | No Comments »

MerchantCircle Aggregates Local Search Listings for Small Businesses

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007


Over 14 million Business ListingsI’ve commented before about the expansion of local search, other convergent tools for local search, and even a directory of local search directories. All in support of small businesses who are recognizing that being found on the web is now far more important than being found in the paper yellow pages.

Now, thanks to the AlwaysOn.com Media 100 “special awards for market disruption,” I’ve discovered a wonderful service, MerchantCircle.com that gives small business owners a convenient way to access (or add) local search listings on most of the important local search directories (only Google seems to be missing) including Yahoo Local, City Search, YellowPages.com, Verizon Superpages, Yelp.com, Insiderpages.com and more.

The result is the ability to manage your business’ “web identity” and online “reputation.” So, if you have a business that has local, face-to-face community contact (in other words if your business does not exist entirely on the web), then MerchantCircle is definitely worth checking out. You can monitor and update most of your localized listings and also network with other local businesses in a very state-of-the-Web 2.0-art environment.

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Posted in small biz e-biz, small business | 4 Comments »

Hear Me Now: Internet Marketing Internet Radio Interview

Monday, January 29th, 2007


Last Friday I was interviewed for an hour by the delightful hosts of the eMarketing Talk Show. The four-part interview, “Leveraging your Website to Grow your Business: Best Internet Marketing Practices for Small Businesses” is posted here: http://www.emarketingtalkshow.com/advertising-agencies/online-strategies.asp

I look forward to your feedback. I hope it’s useful to many of you as a solid introduction to the three main types of internet marketing and more. Enjoy!

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Posted in internet marketing, small biz e-biz, small business | No Comments »

Easy, Low Cost Solutions for Creating Websites & Podcasts

Monday, January 22nd, 2007

Here are a couple of interesting Web 2.0 style online user-generated content creation services I’ve come across lately:

> Weebly.com has an impressive video demo that makes it look (to me, at least) like Weebly may well be about the easiest way available for almost anyone to create a website. The video demo shows a drag and drop, practically brain-dead simple interface… and that’s a good thing!

> Likewise, BlogTalkRadio.com has it’s own push-button interface that takes the audio studio work, or even the GarageBand software production out of producing a podcast talkshow via the phone, complete with RSS feed. And some people say Web 2.0 is just a concept…

In both cases, no fuss, no muss, no independent hosting account is required.

FYI, I’ve also posted my first WordPress website, which was also a reasonably straight forward process. It’s a bit more feature-rich and blog-oriented as compared to Weebly, but I’m pleased with the results (which are viewable at: TheJoyofGolfing.com). Not bad for a rare solo effort (professionally, I’m more of a team player).

Any comments or anyone want to share their experience with any of the above services?

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Posted in small biz e-biz, small business, user generated content | No Comments »

Browser-based Chat App Breaks Through Compatibility Blocks

Monday, November 27th, 2006

Web content is becoming more and more modularized, and Web 2.0 is increasing efficiencies with windows within the browser window… One of the most useful applications I’ve seen that solves a real problem for me is Meebo.com. First of all, I’m using two IM (instant messenger) applications these days, having collegues using both AIM (via Mac’s iChat) and Yahoo Messenger. This meant I needed to run two different readers. Meebo handles both IM chats within one web window/application.

And, to make things better, they also offer a widget that I can put inside a web page. I’ve done that now at ComBridges.com (at the bottom of the page) so that visitors can chat with me directly from my web page. This is an experiment to see if I can get prospective customers to start a conversation that may lead to them becoming a client. This sure beats $99/month for LivePerson and also offers distinct advantages over the complexity (albeit free and open source) of a application like ZaZaChat.

I’m impressed with Meebo. It works and has made my life simpler while opening up new possibilities. What more can I ask?

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Posted in internet marketing, small biz e-biz | No Comments »