Cool Convergence & Browsing Bonus: Great TechCrunch-NetVibes Mashup

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For your browsing pleasure…

In announcing the new NetVibes roll-out of the ability to create public personalized pages, the marvelous Michael Arrington also offered his own personalized, customized TechCrunch NetVibes page “featuring many of my favorite news feeds and a few widgets.”

I offer this to you because it is a cool convergence. From my limited experience, NetVibes is my favorite customizable “home page;” but more importantly TechCrunch is my favorite source of information about the bleeding edge of Web 2.0. Scroll down on this TechCruch/NetVibes page to see, for example, the Alexa Widget showing TechCrunch ahead of Business Week and CNet in online viewership; or enjoy the build-in video references; and on and on.

If you’re reading this, you’ll probably find things of interest on the Netvibes.com/TechCrunch page. If nothing else, it’s a great demo of the plug-and-play nature of the ever-expanding Web 2.0 socially-networked Internet.

Enjoy!

A Good Lesson in Email Subject Lines

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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.

NYTimes Spotlights The Internet-to-Cable Comedy Incubator

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I love this. More evidence of the power of putting video online. More creative freedom and opportunities for creative people. More media power to the people. More breaking up of the old guard media empires (oh yeah, they call those “disruptive technologies”), etc.

New York Times television “news” section calls its report: Online Yesterday, on Cable Today

Enjoy.

Understanding Blogging 101

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This dude, ChrisG, is getting some well-deserved viral buzz. He’s doing the blog thing well; and he’s explaining what, why and how he’s doing this blog thing well, all along the way.

I know many folks out there are scratching their heads trying to understand the whole blogosphere and viral marketing phenom. Well, Chris’ latest post, The Three Dimensions of Blogging: The Vital Combination Every Blog Must Have is as good an introductory summary, explanation and orientation as I’ve seen.

And since Chris is something of a blogging “guru” his site also offers many other resources as well. Most of all, check out how he walks his talk, the free e-book only after subscribing, etc etc.

Thanks, Chris. Great work.

Creating YouTube Video Channels, A Pro Explains His Search Engine Strategy

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Toward the end of this interview on Beet.TV, Brad Inman of leading edge, yet professional internet video producer, TurnHere, gives the most credible explanation of why companies, corporations and other organizations should be creating their own YouTube channels. It’s all about search.

Finally, An Overview of Video Sharing Sites and Revenue Opportunities

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I’ve been wanting someone to write this article. (Thanks to Beet.TV for the tip.)

A site called LightReading (which calls itself “the leading integrated business media company serving the telecommunications industry and other related next-generation communications markets”) has published Online Video: Show Us the Money which includes information on no fewer than 75 video sharing sites with mini-reviews of the Top 10 revenue sharing sites. It’s complete with comparison charts, and I recommend clicking on the “Print” link to get the whole report with charts embedded. You could really call this a white paper in the purest sense.

Great work. Thanks, Light.

Online Video Monetization Blooming

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If you still don’t believe that there’s money to be made, not to mention good marketing buzz to be generated, with online video clips, then you better check out The New York Times coverage of the competition between video sites to make revenue sharing deals with producers and talent who can develop a following using online video. They call it, New Hot Properties: YouTube Celebrities.

Web 2.0 Illuminated by Neat Video

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Great video illuminating Web 2.0. Thanks, Kanas State U. 😉

OR a higher-quality WMV version of this video is available here.

Enjoy.

Online Video Explosion Signposts

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One nice thing about the online video explosion, revolution, or whatever you want to call it, is that it does have signposts. (FYI, I’m still waiting for some professional publisher to ask me to write more about all this… hello?!).

But meanwhile here are a couple of recent articles and/or posts that I found to be of interest and encouraging re: the re-emergence of my own “video-video” enterprises (videos about video and online communications) which are percolating in the background:

> VideoEgg Hits 3 Million Uploads — TechCrunch insights on the growth of this online video leader vis a vis GooTube (Google-YouTube) who may have the best ad platform of the moment. I said “may.”

> All The World’s a Stage (That Includes the Internet) — NYTimes writer Scott Kirsner offers a nice overview with examples of how user-generated content can and is making money, at least for a few leading edge folks.

Apple’s Steve Jobs Reopens Free Digital Rights Conversation

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Ever since the early days of the Internet and the original Napster MP3 download craze, the issue of digital rights management (DRM) and the security of the intellectual property rights of artists vs the new environment of sharing and collaboration offered by the Internet has been a controversial subject.

For example, I wrote a kind of inflamatory piece in Videography in the year 2000 called “Napster Gets It, Universal Doesn’t” where I called the Universal CEO “Bozo Bronfman” and referenced a classic Flash movie “Napster Bad” which made fun of the band Metallica for being money grubbers.

Bottom line, the bad guys were the record companies, and now (fast forward to 2007), they are among Steve Jobs and Apple’s best friends.

So the latest is that Mr. Jobs, always on the move, and in the face of the huge financial benefits that Apple gains by owning the platform that delivers by far the most “legal” (read digital rights protected) downloads… and in the face of mostly European gripes about Apple’s DRM and its proprietary system (which is not unlike Microsoft’s, Sony’s etc.), Mr. Jobs has now written a lucid web post encouraging record companies to open up their digital rights.

In other words, he’s once again pointing the finger (accurately) at the record companies as the reason that there is a digital rights lock down in the first place; and he’s recommending that the best way forward is for these same record companies to get out of the way, for the benefit of everyone, especially consumers but including the record companies and the tech companies as well.

DailyTech explains in more detail why “Apple’s leader believes that a DRM-free world would be the best one for consumers.”

If you’re interested in this subject (and, frankly, I think that everyone should be), I highly recommend Stanford Law professor and digital rights activist Lawrence Lessig‘s exceptionally well-written, researched and insightful book, Free Culture.

(Addendum: Bronfman responded to Jobs and it still looks like he’s a bozo.)