Kofi Annan, Hezbollah and Your Internet
Posted by vern on July 31, 2006 at 10:24 AM
Kofi Annan and the UN have their hands full these days. The recent fighting in the Middle East continues to escalate with increasing civilian casualties on both sides. The tragic Sunday (7/30) attack on a Hezbollah missile battery that resulted in dozens of civilian deaths threatens to fuel the fires of war.
Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has been begging both sides to declare a cease fire in the bloody conflict to make it possible to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims of this 20 day old skirmish. Once again the world's attention, and media reporting, is monopolized by tensions in the Middle East.
The UN has had a presence in Lebanon since 1978 to "confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area" according to the UN website.
Given this mandate, the UN has failed miserably in Lebanon, allowing Hezbollah free reign to invade a sovereign nation and conduct its terrorist offensive against Israel.
But "What does all this have to do with my internet?" you ask.
Last week the U.S. gave up control of the internet to none other than the hapless bureaucrats at the UN - the same UN that turned a blind eye to all those Hezbollah rockets being shipped across the Lebanese border over recent years.
During the last few years, the U.S. non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been pressured to become a more international body. The argument has been that the internet has grown in importance to the point that no one government should exert control over such an international resource. Today (7/31) Kofi Annan will be officially presented with a UN report on internet governance, outlining the greatly reduced role of ICANN in the future.
It's expected that ICANN will only retain the role of custodian of the Root Zone File. This is essentially the internet database that lists the names and IP addresses of the DNS servers for all top level domains like .org and .com.
All other issues relating to the internet, such as spam, phishing and other sorts of cybercrime, will be left up to the world's policemen (or should I say keystone cops) at the UN. When this happens expect any momentum to combat these problems to grind to a halt while the UN representatives meet, debate, study and deliberate.
I'm afraid, as history has shown, that the UN will sit idly by and allow the internet terrorists of the world to arm themselves and launch damaging attacks, while UN officials "study the issues".
The internet is a global resource too valuable to be governed and regulated by a body whose only accomplishment has been to provide a false sense of security for residents of the world's trouble spots.
Tags
icann
united nations
internet governance
From the Frying Pan to the Buyer
Posted by on July 27, 2006 at 04:58 PM
Prior to Oneupweb, I worked for a medium-sized retailer of home-décor products. In addition to brick & mortar, the company mailed several million catalogs annually, and had an extensive offering of products available for purchase online.
As online marketing efforts increased, so too did the online store’s sales figures - that correlation was as natural as flowers in spring. What wasn’t as easy to quantify was the impact of online marketing initiatives on in-store & catalog sales.
This quandary is all too familiar to multi-channel retailers of any size or industry. Just how much of your in-store and catalog revenue can be traced to your online marketing efforts?
I consider myself a rather circumspect shopper. It’s not uncommon for me to scour the internet for user reviews, and garner prices from at least three different retailers before deciding whether or not to buy something as simple as a frying pan. What’s worse is that after all of that online research, I will likely end up buying the item at a store where I can pick it up, hold it in my hands, and generally become one with the pan. I’m a "hands on" kinda guy.
For that buying behavior, I apologize to every retail marketer on Earth.
A couple of excellent ways of tracking online spend-to-call-center sales performance is to incorporate some unique landing pages with specific phone numbers, or Google’s new Click To Call program (beta, of course) which directly connects search engine users with your call-center operators via telephone. These ideas only help to solve a part of the problem. There’s still no easy way to measure the influences of online marketing spending on your in-store sales.
A marketer’s best answer just may be an old solution -- research.
Survey customers online and offline, pre and post purchase. Test various rebate & coupon-based incentive programs, then analyze the response data. Obtain panel-based or focus group data to examine customers’ buying behavior. And spend some time with the results.
While individual conversion-level reporting may be the stuff of dreams, employing a more holistic approach to budget analysis is one of the first, and probably the most important steps toward tying brick & mortar revenue to your online marketing budget. It may not catch all my "pan in the hand" purchases, but it should help with your more typical consumer.
Tags
conversion tracking
online marketing
Clash of the Titans
Posted by on July 26, 2006 at 05:57 PM
Ever wonder what it would be like to be Larry Page or Sergey Brin? You know, Google's rich and fabulous co-founders that are on a mission to rule the world. That might not be your opinion, but it would be if you ran some of the other internet juggernauts. Some examples include, but are not limited to:
It's a copy-cat world, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the internet. Just recently, Amazon announced plans to launch an ad-free video download service. This fresh on the heals of both Google and Yahoo having recently launched user content driven video services, ala YouTube.
The real question is how the independent companies will create enough revenue to survive. With shareholder pressure for creating new streams of revenue, the competition will only get tougher for the little guys. YouTube is still privately held, but is continually entering more rounds of VC funding just to cover its bandwidth costs, which were estimated to be closing in on $1 million a month and growing. Because Google and Yahoo can afford that kind of bandwidth costs, it wouldn't surprise me to see YouTube be acquired in the near future.
Here's a list of recent mergers, acquisitions and announcements:
- Google launches Google Talk instant messenger service with VoIP calling capabilities
- Both Yahoo and Google launch video services
- eBay buys Skype to add VoIP calling capabilities
- Yahoo and Google acquire Flickr and Picasa respectively, etc
Now Amazon is offering grid storage web services.
It's not enough that the top internet juggernauts compete against each other in nearly every arena. Here's a great example of Google competing against one of its largest AdWords and AdSense advertisers, eBay.
The eBay “Sponsored Link‎ is as follows:
Miami Spa
Whatever you’re looking for
you can get it on eBay.
www.eBay.com
The Google branded ad is as follows:
Find a Local Spa
Locate spas in your area-
Find it with Google Maps
maps.google.com
I'll give you one guess whose ad was ranked higher.
Over time, all the major internet players will offer similar, if not the same service. It'll be a matter of where the user's allegiance is. It's enough to make anyone's head spin. What happened to the day when I used Amazon to buy my book, eBay to resell it, and Google to help me with my French homework?
YouTube Confessions
Posted by on July 25, 2006 at 10:26 AM
Is it wrong that at night, when I'm alone in my apartment, I'm scouring Popurls.com for the top YouTube posts and searching uncontrollably for Maury Povich's show on Pickle Phobia?
Maybe not wrong, but definitely weird and probably concerning to my friends and family.
But I'm not the only one who's into this user-generated video site; a recent USA Today article says YouTube reported 2.5 billion videos were watched in June of this year alone and more than 65,000 videos were uploaded to YouTube, accounting for more than 60 percent of all videos watched online.
YouTube, developed in February 2005, originally specialized in shorter, homemade, comic-like videos created and uploaded by users. But with its recent NBC partnership and banner ads for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, YouTube has now entered the marketing mainstream.
Not to mention the search engines, who are paying a little more attention to their own online video platforms. Just last week Yahoo announced it will now store homemade videos on its own site with many features similar to YouTube.
I think the best part of YouTube is its viral marketing abilities. For example, NBC captured an old WB pilot episode all because it demonstrated incredible popularity after it was leaked on YouTube. The pilot, Nobody's Watching, was cancelled by WB one year ago, but appeared on YouTube with high download numbers. So now NBC is airing six episodes. And let's not forget NBC's recent deal to post promo clips from Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
But there is still the issue of profit for this online, user-generated video world. I highly doubt it will ever be a user-subscription-based model, after it has been free for so long.
But questions remain.
Disney only advertised 24 hours. Who will advertise next?
Is the partnership with TV networks a step in the right direction? Or, a sign that YouTube is going too mainstream?
And what happens when it ceases to be cool? Will the loss of the cool factor indicate a loss of profit opportunities, too?
The future of YouTube may be undetermined, but we must remember a pickle phobia is real, it does exist and it's serious.
MySpace Movie Marketing
Posted by chip on July 24, 2006 at 05:22 PM
Over this past weekend I was watching TV when a commercial for the new movie John Tucker Must Die came on. The movie itself does not look like the sort of thing that I would spend my time or money on; I guess I am not in that teen demographic anymore. What did intrigue me about this trailer was the website they direct people to at the end.
It isn't the usual web address with a domain specific the movie name, nor is it part of the main Fox Movies domain. The only web address displayed is a MySpace profile page for the main character of the film, John Tucker.
With the target demographic being teenagers, there is probably no better space for them to be than MySpace. Users can ad John Tucker to their list of friends and help spread the word by sharing the movie with the rest of their MySpace "friends". They can talk back and forth about the movie with other MySpacers; I even noticed that some of "John Tucker's friends" are other characters from the movie. The dialog between users includes comments by these characters showing that Fox didn't just create a profile and dump it on MySpace; they are actively marketing in this space.
Since it is a Twentieth Century Fox movie - which is owned by News Corp - which purchased MySpace last summer; this connection is not that far of a stretch. Even though, I was intrigued that this MySpace profile was not in addition to another website, but was placed as the official site of the movie.
The questions this raises for me are what does this say about the plans for MySpace advertising and branding and will other movie studios follow suit?
Tags
myspace
myspace marketing
Code Name: Project Panama
Posted by on July 21, 2006 at 04:17 PM
If you haven't heard yet, Yahoo! has announced it is holding off updates to its paid search advertising platform. For those of you that are new to Paid Search, you might be scratching your head asking Project Panama, new platform, Yahoo!? What?
Well, never fear. I will give a brief rundown of what was supposed to happen, when, and why it isn't now.
What: Project Panama (aka Google-clone)
Essentially, Yahoo! Search Marketing plans to become more Google-like in nature. Yahoo's new "easy-to-use" ad control panel would allow for some of the following:
- Ad testing, allowing different variations of ads to rotate within a keyword group
- Geo-targeting, by city, state and country
- Scheduling, campaign day parting
- Forecasting, improved keyword search volume estimations and suggestions
- Fast editorial, automated system allowing listings to appear almost immediately
When: Originally expected to roll out during the third quarter of 2006, before the ever so popular fourth quarter, now pushed back until the first quarter of 2007. What more could the competition ask for? It’s like Christmas in July!
Why it isn't: Yahoo! states that they did not want to disrupt the ad purchasing and management during the 2006 holiday season.
My question is simple, why would Yahoo! think twice about waiting to roll out Project Panama if it would put them in a position to compete closer with rival, Google? Not to mention, Yahoo! anticipated revenue increases of at least 20%, an estimated $125 million by the end of 2006, potentially $600 million in 2007.
I understand that this is quite an undertaking to completely revamp its search marketing platform, but how confident is Yahoo! in its new system to not roll it out before the fourth quarter rush? It looks like Google will prevail again. Perhaps those of us advertising in Yahoo! should start filling out our Christmas lists early this year, in the hopes that Santa brings us a new Yahoo! Search Marketing interface for 2007.
Tags
yahoo!
yahoo! search marketing
Monk Finds the First Clue to Subdomains
Posted by keirsun on July 20, 2006 at 05:01 PM
My wife's a fan of Monk, the TV show. And sometimes I can't resist watching Tony Shalhoub nervously, yet elegantly fumble his way through a mystery.
But it was something other than Monk's eccentricities that caught my eye recently.
During one of USA's frequent commercial breaks, a promo played touting the webisodes, blogs, trivia games, etc. found on the Monk interactive website. But I wasn't enticed until I noticed the web address:
I pointed at the screen, "Hey, look at that! A subdomain, on national television!" In a strange, monkish way I was pleasantly surprised.
Now, don't get me wrong. Subdomains have been used for many years. But over time, I've noticed an extremely slow adoption rate of subdomain usage. And I have never been able to figure out why.
One primary benefit of a subdomain is the ability to create a unique online identity for products/services/detectives that stand-alone, as Monk certainly does, but fall under the jurisdiction of a parent site's overall offerings.
Two, if site linking is used correctly, search engines are able to recognize that the subdomain exists as a unique section of the parent domain, and also recognize its unique linking hierarchy. Therefore, a search engine can apply greater link popularity to the subdomain's homepage, than what may be applied to a subdirectory. In this case, monk.usanetwork.com vs. www.usanetwork.com/monk/.
Not to mention it's easier to remember. The keyword that's in people's minds (Monk, again) comes first. Add your domain name and you're on your way. Much easier to remember than some long, drawn-out URL. "www what? Was it slash monk or slash monk dash tv? Oh, forget it." These are the wrong roads that your online clientele can easily get lost down.
So if you're thinking of expanding your website, and have content that seems to stand alone or has its own unique identity (graphics, product offerings, etc.) check into using a subdomain. It's easier than you think.
Now if only Monk's subdomain didn't redirect to another URL. But let's focus on one clue at a time.
Tags
subdomains
Web 2.0… is it real?
Posted by on July 19, 2006 at 05:10 PM
Yesterday morning, I was doing my usual morning surf of popurls, trying to keep up with the buzz on the web, when I landed on a page and saw an ad that caught my eye. "Purchase Web 2.0 here."
Wait, what?
It was a marketing firm's ad… did they say Purchase web 2.0?
With the buzz these days about web 2.0, I guess it's easy to get a bit confused, especially if you're not a techie, but I was still surprised to hear someone claim that you could physically purchase it.
The thing is, web 2.0 isn't anything concrete&hellip it's more of an ideology.
As a designer, when I think of what web 2.0 means, I think minimalistic design, jelly buttons, rounded corners and everyday computer geeks that have made it big by democratizing the web. (I heart Kevin Rose…). Technically, it's a blend of a democratic web, Ajax and usability. For my non–programmer people out there, Ajax is not an actual language, but a grouping of technologies used together. It's JavaScript and XML with CSS, XHTML and DOM scripting.
My personal favorite portion of web 2.0 is the bringing of democracy to the web. For example on digg, users have the ability say what's important by "digging" an article if they like it. An article doesn't need to go through a plethora of editors to make the front page, techies (and now non–techies) of all ages get to vote on what's worthwhile right now.
So, what is web 2.0 really? It's just a clever acceptance of the web, and a bit of a marketing scheme.
So don't be swept away with web 2.0. Do what works and what has always worked. And if you're any respectable web designer, you should already have most of the practices in place.
Tags
Web 2.0
Teaching a New Blog Old Tricks
Posted by steve on July 18, 2006 at 12:08 PM
By now, organizations around the world have begun to realize the benefits of creating a corporate blog. In fact, a new weblog is created every second of every day. The benefits of creating a weblog have quickly become more well-known: online publishing is easy, weblogs invite and display feedback from readers (which is often some of the best reading on a blog), and most importantly, search engines love weblogs because they are content-centric and are updated on a frequent basis.
There are distinct differences, though, that separate weblogs from traditional websites - the main difference being that blogs tend to be far more dynamic than websites. Websites are designed to be content-static, and I can think of many things easier than getting a webmaster to update content in a timely fashion. When your webmaster finally does get around to updating your content, he or she is updating pages, whereas with weblogs, updates are made to posts or entries.
Another difference is the ease of updating weblogs compared to websites. Blog publishing programs make it extremely easy to add new content to a weblog. Once your blog is set up, you simply write an entry, "publish" it, and your weblog is instantly updated. You don't have to be experienced with HTML or FTP to add content to a blog.
Communities are another distinct characteristic of weblogs. While websites may promote limited feedback with such community-based tools as guest books and message boards, weblogs actively encourage feedback from readers by making it easy to post comments. Blogging tools such as trackbacks, comment functions and tag boards transform a monologue into a community of responsive, contributing readers or customers.
While there is no set of rules that lists the clear-cut differences between weblogs and websites, the customary characteristics of a blog include the ability to post comments from readers and communities, time stamping articles, sorting posts in order from newest-to-oldest, and offering an RSS feed, which allows readers to subscribe to and stay up-to-date on your blog posts through an RSS aggregator.
As I stated before, search engines love weblogs because they are content-centric. Regularly updated content combined with community-based feedback and backlinks attract search engines to weblogs, in some cases more so than traditional websites. For this reason, optimizing the content of your blog, properly setting up a linking structure, and knowing how and where to distribute your blog can pay off in a huge way.
When creating a blog, it is important that it is done right in order to capitalize on the unique benefits weblogs provide over traditional websites. Blogs can be a great deal easier to manage, update, and add new content to. In the new world of Web 2.0, if you aren't continuously updating the content of your site, you're becoming increasingly harder to find as fresh, new content saturates the search engine results.
Tags
blogs
corporate blog
You Down with ODP?
Posted by Christopher on July 17, 2006 at 12:15 PM
In a recent Matt Cutts blog post (for the unaware: Matt Cutts is a Google engineer, one relatively famous in this admittedly rarified subsphere of society) the great sage introduced the META "NOODP" tag, and how it can help webmasters control, somewhat, the appearance of their results in Google.
Why does this even matter?
On occasion, Google will use the Title and Description from your site's DMOZ listing in its own search results.
Of course, this only matters if your website is listed in DMOZ (for the uninitiated, the Open Directory Project, hence ODP, hence my opportunity to both celebrate my total geek status and shout out to Naughty By Nature).
So what's the big deal? Maybe nothing.
Let me ask you this, though: How old is your DMOZ listing?
Let's say your site shows up on Google's first page, and Google is pulling data from DMOZ to use as the title and description for your site listing. If your DMOZ title and description are outdated, so are your Google title and description. And, unless your potential customer/visitor is drawn to things that are outdated, they won't visit your site.
So, in order to address this problem, there are a couple things you can do:
Check Your DMOZ Listing - Does it say what you want it to say? Make sure your DMOZ listing offers a good indication to any potential visitor regarding what you offer, etc. If it doesn't, you can change your DMOZ listing.
Use the META "NOODP" Tag - Google now recognizes the following META tag:
<meta name="robots" content="noodp">
It lets Google know not to pull data from your ODP description.
Because, well, maybe your ODP/DMOZ description was a good representation of your website 2 years ago, but now your primary focus has changed and you're no longer the "World's #1 Manufacturer of Voodoo NKOTB (New Kids on the Block) Dolls". Or, maybe you're waiting for DMOZ (almost universally recognized as maybe not the most responsive directory) to update your site description and don't want the old one used. Regardless, if you use the "NOODP" tag, make sure your homepage meta description is well-written, and contains your site's most important keywords.
That's it. Not much to it. The bottom line is to be aware of and make use of the tools we're given to get the best results. Plus, man, if you haven't, go right now and buy Nineteen Naughty Three. Go. Now. No OPP, but I can't envision a future in which I can drop "Hip Hop Hooray" into StraightUpSearch.
Tags
usability
Matt Cutts
ODP
DMOZ
Naughty By Nature
20 Questions with Oneupweb CEO Lisa Wehr
Posted by lisa on July 14, 2006 at 12:12 PM
I've been interviewed by a number of journalists about what we do and how we got started. And while I think that's an interesting story, one of my staff put together 20 questions that dug a little deeper. Some of these questions seem a little wacky to me - but I'm happy to share my humble thoughts. So here are the answers to questions journalists haven't asked me:
1. What caused you to start Oneupweb?
I originally planned to run an incubator company and Oneupweb was only one of the ideas we'd begun building. When the dot-com bust hit, investment in incubators and the smart ideas that they were generating came to a screeching halt. Oneupweb was generating revenue and turning a profit, so we stuck with it, thinking that we'd return to being an incubator when the market was ready for that again. I still think that running a business incubator would be fun.
2. Why did you locate your company in Michigan? In Lake Leelanau?
At the time I came home to Michigan, I wanted my young son to grow up closer to his grandparents. We chose this area, Leelanau County, because of the quality of life here. I'm not the only one; this area is a great recruiting tool for Oneupweb. We have all the quaintness of a small town within minutes of all the conveniences and services of a city. The beach in the summer, skiing in the winter. Great restaurants, theater and music. I could go on and on.
3. In the last year or so, what twists of your industry have you found surprising?
We knew that advertising agencies would eventually realize the importance of search. That realization so late in the game caused them to panic, and that surprised us. There are several conglomerates out there trying to buy credibility in the industry by gobbling up any SEO, without really thinking about how they will merge the practice into their existing structures.
4. Do you find it difficult or limiting not to have offices in several U.S. cities?
Difficult? No. It's simpler to have all our team under one roof – we don't waste time or money on travel or addresses in high-rent districts. That makes our training systems more effective, our prices lower and our processes faster. I will admit that there are some companies who think they need to have lunch with their search marketing project managers, so being here means we aren't included in those deals. Our best clients are looking for results, not a big-city address.
5. What kind of new client excites you?
New or old client, what excites me is the energy that client puts into being better. I can usually hear it in the first phone call whether it's an entrepreneur or an assistant brand manager. These are the companies with potential for growth. They have a willingness to let us contribute to their strategic business direction and are open to new ideas.
6. Do the layoffs and job cuts downstate lead you to be concerned about Michigan's future?
Of course. What happens to our state when those experienced, creative people leave for jobs in Seattle or the North Carolina Research Triangle? What happens to our schools, our supporting services? Brain drain, the loss of the creative class – whatever buzzwords you want to use – it means lost opportunity for our community now and in the future. We're a national company, so I don't depend on Detroit, or any single metro area for business. I do however want to see our communities thrive.
7. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing politicians in our state? What should they be focused on to improve the business climate?
Our state has been so focused on a few industries for decades that it's difficult to redirect the mindset to growth areas. At every level (local, regional and state) we need economic development leadership in place that creates an atmosphere supporting growth businesses.
8. What are your top three challenges for the next year or at least several months?
First, would have to be: managing Oneupweb's growth to maintain quality service for our clients. Then, predicting the future needs of our client base so we're ready. And finally, finding a meaningful way to contribute to the overall success of our community. That's what's on the top of my to-do list, today.
9. Would you ever sell?
Frankly, I haven't seen a buyer yet who really understood Oneupweb and what makes it valuable. Central to that decision would be the ability to provide this team with more career opportunities and a better lifestyle. Under the right circumstances, sure I would very seriously consider it.
10. What's your toughest interview question for potential employees and why do you think candidates struggle with it?
I will very often ask recruits to list three one-word bullet points that describe their personalities. Some of them look like I threw a snake in their laps. I think that's a tough question because people don't really know themselves or take the time to think about it. Other times, I think they struggle because they're trying to figure out what I want to hear – and that's a mistake.
11. What blogs do you find the most useful?
StraightUpSearch, Oneupweb's blog. It helps me keep in touch with what our team thinks, what they are learning, what's on their minds.
12. Do you surf the web for fun?
Rarely, it's always for a purpose, although sometimes I get off on tangents. And that's pretty typical; for most consumers the novelty of the internet has faded. It's a tool they use to solve problems.
13. What or who inspires you?
Business inspires me. Every client has an inspiring approach to solving a problem. And then thinking about marketing that solution – that's what gets me going.
14. If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?
Candice Bergen - in most of her roles she's polished and feminine, with a toughness and sense of fair play. And she's still funny. The characters she plays make me wish I knew her.
15. Where do you get your best ideas?
Airplanes. I suppose that's because it's a quiet place to think about how Oneupweb can help all the business people sitting around me.
16. What upcoming event or holiday are you looking forward to?
I'm really looking forward to our company summer party. And we also have a family reunion every summer that I really enjoy.
17. What was the last thing you hit with a hammer?
In my home, I just hung a new Jere sculpture that I found in a Traverse City boutique.
18. What one piece of advice do you wish you had on the first day you opened Oneupweb?
Not really advice, but I wish there was an iron-clad way to tell if people were being sincere. The longer I'm in business the more I value sincerity, honesty and loyalty.
19. What question would you like journalists to ask you?
I don't think there is one. Most of my conversations with the media are very open and we cover all the important issues around the story they are putting together.
20. In the last couple years, what have been the biggest, most life-changing moments?
My Dad died suddenly last summer. We connected at such an important level and I was looking forward to 30 more years of that friendship. Loss. Shock. All that. I find myself asking, "How would Dad handle it?"
It has changed my life. I have a greater appreciation for how fleeting my time with my family is. Of course, losing someone makes you focus on your relationships, balance things out and sort your priorities. What has surprised me a little is discovering a new facet of my relationship with my Mom – more of a partnership. There's a maturity between us that I didn't expect from a child-parent relationship. Saying that would make my Dad smile, so I'm sure he is.
Tags
business management
leadership
marketing
Welcome to the Big Show of Marketing Podcasts
Posted by dave on July 13, 2006 at 01:08 PM
"Go, Beach Bums!" Alright, so they could have done better with the name, but last year when it was announced that the Frontier League, an independent professional baseball league, was granting Traverse City an expansion team, I was excited. In my opinion, it's hard to top a stadium hot dog and singing 'take me out to the ball game' a capella with thousands of other off-key vocalists.
This morning, with the taste of a stadium dog still lingering from a weekend visit to the stadium, while reading a Nielsen//NetRatings article on the popularity of podcasts, I realized just how much podcasting, and these teams have in common.
Over the past few years, due largely to Apple and the iPod, podcasts have worked their way out of obscurity and onto the fringes of the marketing playing field. Much like the Traverse City Beach Bums and the other teams in the Frontier League, podcasting has started to make a name for itself in communities across the country. In the beginning, the pockets of followers may be modest and their fame reserved for small talk with the person sitting next to you before the first pitch, but over time, their followers and the reach of their fame continues to grow until, it reaches the ears of the masses.
Although podcasting, in its current form, is not the MLB of the marketing world, with the most recent Nielsen//NetRatings article results stating that over 9 million or about 6.6 percent of the adult online population have recently downloaded a podcast, it is safe to say that the fame has reached the ears of the masses, and that podcasting has played its way into big show of mainstream marketing.
Tags
podcasting
Big Internet, Small Retailer
Posted by on July 12, 2006 at 08:22 AM
Before the internet, small specialty retail stores always wondered how they could compete with mail order catalogs. It was tough; mail order catalogs didn't need a prime location, ample parking, store front, attractive displays and in many cases a sizeable staff to assist the customer. Dollar for dollar, how could a small specialty retailer compete?
The answer is Customer Service. In this age of automation, most people still enjoy talking to and interacting with a real, knowledgeable and understanding human being. Take the Tortoise & Hare Running & Fitness Center in Ann Arbor, for example. The store was founded in 1978 during the running boom. It has continued to thrive over the years because of its premise to provide customers with "the best service from employees who are confident and well-informed about the latest products."
People like to be treated well. They want good value for their money. They like to have someone listen to them. They want advice from someone who knows what they are talking about. They want to deal with someone who has a friendly, positive attitude. If a retailer does all of this, chances are that a customer will come back again and again.
On the surface, the internet may appear to be a bigger adversary than mail order to a small specialty retailer like Tortoise & Hare. But in reality, this isn't the case. The internet can be a partner.
A well designed website is the first step. Before they even set foot in your store, the first impression people get, might be from your website. It should convey the image and feel of the retail store itself. People should leave the website thinking, I want to check that place out. Is your site organized, easy to follow and up to date? If not, what is your store like? If the point of your site is to draw people into your store, are your location and hours easily accessible?
If you offer products for sale online, usability is the key. There are several factors that influence whether someone will purchase merchandise online or not. Is it complicated to place an order? Is it secure? What are the payment options? Is the product that I want available? How difficult is it to return, if it is not what I want?
The companies that manufacture the products carried by the small specialty retailer may also help out by listing the retailer on their site, or by providing a link to the retailer's site.
In short, the web has become a crucial part of how we do business today. For the small retailer, here is your chance to bring that great customer service to a much larger audience.
Tags
customer service
Language, Dialect, and Google
Posted by teal on July 11, 2006 at 08:23 AM
From a young age, my accent and dialect has been commented on. See, I am a Yooper. For those of you who don't know what a Yooper is, that means I am from the most northern part of Michigan, the Upper Peninsula (or the UP). As a Yooper, I picked up a slight accent that is reminiscent of a Canadian accent, and along with this lovely accent comes a dialect that attracts some comments.
At Oneupweb, I spend a fair amount of time researching keywords and how people search the Internet. I am also at the tail end of my graduate research in Rhetoric and Technical Communications. The fact that I have not run across some of my foreign dialect in my research leads me to believe that I come from a truly unique place - well that and the mocking that comes along with some of my personal word choices.
Example: doorwall - it's a door, and it's a wall... what's the problem?
Another example: pank - you pank the snow - who doesn't know what that means?
And my all-time favorite; the one I have yet to work into my daily conversations: "I'm going Wal Mart" (I have to use Wal Mart as it is the ultimate shopping congregation in my hometown). Notice the word "to" is missing - who needs it anyway?
These invented, shortened, or combined words all mean something to Yoopers - they represent our attempt to make speaking easier - or something like that.
So I started to think about language and linguistics when I stumbled upon an article in my reading the other morning stating that the term "Google" is now a verb. I am going to take a leap here and say that many of us have used Google as a verb. If you want to find something on the web, you "google it". This interesting linguistic shift reminds me of the UP and how, to save time, we create, change, or manipulate words to get our points across.
There is no word that encompasses the act of packing, patting and spanking the snow, therefore we "pank" it instead. Likewise, we needed a new word for a sliding glass door - so we invented one. Moving outside of the UP, when one would like to search for something on the Internet, we can "google it".
Let it be known that I am not condoning this manipulation of words - nor am I criticizing it. Things like this happen in small towns and across the country or world apparently. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am "going Wal Mart" soon and must close the "doorwall".
For more information (on Google verbiage or what it means to "pank" the snow), go ahead and "google it". Once you get your results you can "photoshop it" and add some images, and then "xerox" plenty of copies for your friends.
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google verb
upper peninsula
So You Don't Think You Need a Website?
Posted by anne on July 10, 2006 at 08:49 AM
Why waste your time creating a website? What's the purpose, or better yet, where is the owner/customer bond? Where is that unique relationship?
In your business, you know that person to person contact is the best way to establish relationships. That's what makes you successful as an entrepreneur; you personally know who your customers are, you know their families; they're your buds.
Reaching out to an unknown internet audience seems impersonal, unfamiliar and quite frankly, scary.
If you venture onto the information highway, there may be no turning back. One click leads to two and before you know it, you've entered an e-commerce avenue with no stop signs.
In the past, you may have been part of an organization where upper level management was not computer savvy. This created a fear of the intangible world that lay beyond the four walls of your business. At the time, ignorance was bliss and a safe place to be. Now, it's still scary but you can no longer ignore it.
However, you are a believer of human contact. Building a relationship with your customers includes a warm smile, the strong handshake, a light lunch or a deal breaker on the 18th hole.
I'm not saying that those aren't important means for building client relationships, but there exists another means of reaching your customers on a much larger scale. A website!
Most importantly, with a website you can contribute the same amount of quality, timeliness and service to your customers as you do now, without the cost of dinners, rounds of golf and time away from the store. And a website can reach potential customers who have never stepped foot inside the front door of your business.
Being an HR professional, I compare a website to the interview process. Prior to an interview, I've never met the interviewee, entered their home, or met their family. It's their job to tell me all about themselves within a 45-minute window.
Your website is your window. Make sure it reflects what you have to offer, what you do well, and your strongest attributes, in addition to clearly communicating why you stand apart from your competitors.
Remember, it's unlikely that potential customers have prior knowledge of your business. They're walking through the front door blind-folded. What do you want them to see?
Remember, the market is vast and limitless, and an opportunity that you don't want to miss. It's time to create your presence on the internet.
Then again, you can just wait a little longer. But the question is, can you afford not to?
10 Questions Every Webmaster Should Ask Their CMS Developer
Posted by on July 07, 2006 at 01:26 PM
Before Oneupweb, I worked at an online children's store. One of my many duties there (my desk was always covered in toys) was to manage our store's migration to an entirely new e-commerce platform.
The first thing I had to do was select our new e-commerce provider. Simple, right? Not quite. We're talking about a major investment.
I embarked on a massive research project that spanned almost an entire year, comparing solutions as I evaluated everything from order fulfillment to inventory control to the subject at hand: Content Management Systems.
If you're considering migrating to a new CMS platform, here are some things you should keep in mind (or perhaps avoid at all costs - as your friendly SEO advisor, I'm begging you):
1. Will my web site have dynamic or static pages?
Many search engines have difficulty spidering dynamic pages where the URL is always changing, and some engines also won't index URLs that contain multiple dynamic characters, such as the "?" character.
2. Does your CMS attach session IDs to web site pages?
Session IDs create confusing URLs that are not only hard for search engines to follow, but can also lead to duplicate content issues.
3. Will every page on my web site be unique, or will content be duplicated across different categories?
Be sure that your CMS uses a flexible category structure where if you need to include a page in more than one category, it doesn't create multiple copies of it (search engines don't like duplicate content).
4. Do you allow custom title, meta, and headline tags for each page?
Believe it or not, many CMS programs don't have this essential capability.
5. What can and can't I change on my own?
Be aware of how much flexibility you really have when it comes to adding or changing content. Can you create static pages at your leisure? What about adding or removing categories, or having full control over directory and file names?
6. What's the navigational structure like?
If your web site navigation is contained within Flash or Javascript, search engines won't be able to follow links to any of your internal site pages.
7. Will the site be written in frames or Flash?
Similar to #6, websites that use frames or are written 100% in Flash have a nasty side effect of being largely invisible to search engines, except in these cases it's not only the navigation - it's the entire site.
8. How "clean" are the pages?
Search engines like pages that are simple and easy to follow. Be sure that your CMS doesn't spew out bloated pages full of complicated scripts and style commands that eclipse your web site copy.
9. Could global updates overwrite individual page content?
We have seen some CMS platforms employ global updates with a nasty side effect of overwriting entire portions of a webpage (including actual on-page and meta copy).
10. Does any of this cost extra?
Many times a provider will say "sure, we can do that", but will fail to mention the added cost. I've seen it happen, so the moral is to leave no stone uncovered.
Of course, these above issues relate largely to SEO. Although I don't have time to go into other areas you'd want to consider, I can however offer two additional tips:
11. Document *everything*.
Make an exhaustive spreadsheet (and I mean exhaustive), listing what each solution needs to provide down to the most minute detail. Use this as a measuring stick against each and every platform you consider. You'll be adding to this every day.
12. Put it in the contract.
If you're not sure what is or isn't included with a service, never assume, even if you have a verbal agreement. Request it to be added to the contract in writing.
In the name of facilitating friendlier search engine design for websites everywhere, I hope these brief tips have helped. Hang in there, and good luck!
Tags
cms
content management systems
Straight Up Site of Interest - Online Yellow Pages
Posted by keirsun on July 06, 2006 at 12:31 PM
Welcome back. It's nice to see you again. For the fresh faces in the crowd, our monthly Straight Up Site of Interest post enables us to focus our spy-glasses on websites thriving upon forward-thinking internet technologies. After sharing the view, you will have another answer to this very important question: "How can I market my website?"
This month's topic: Online Yellow Pages
Straight Up Site of Interest: Yellowikis
In their Own Words: "We aim to provide up-to-date, open, accurate, honest but quite basic business information to everyone on the internet."
First Impression: Labeling itself as "Yellow Pages for the 21st Century" Yellowikis is a wiki-formatted version of online Yellow Pages. This means that anyone can add and edit a business listing to Yellowikis.
Similar to Wikipedia becoming the online information directory, Yellowikis hopes to become the all-important online business directory.
It took all of 15-20 minutes to add a basic listing for our company, and of course the more time you have, the more elaborate your listing can become. And the instant gratification of seeing your business listed immediately is more than favorable to waiting for an email verification that your listing has been added.
Some Key Features:
- It is free to add a business and organizations to Yellowikis
- First Yellow Pages with Videos
- First Yellow Pages with VoIP
- First Yellow Pages with Chat
With Wikipedia listings showing up favorably in Google's search results, it's only logical that business listings from popular wikis will be meshed with local search results in one fashion or another.
Don't forget to read about June's Straight Up Site of Interest for Net Neutrality.
Hitting the Wall
Posted by on July 05, 2006 at 08:13 AM
In long distance running it’s called “hitting the wall‎ – that moment when your legs and your lungs tell you, “this is it‎, you’re running on empty and there’s nothing left to give. Many quit at that moment, fearing long term injury – even death. Others trudge on. And the rewards, they tell me, can be incalculable. There’s an unexpected release of adrenalin, there’s the finish line and then… when’s the next race?
For a small business, hitting the wall can mean many things, worst of which is stagnation. You have the same products or services and try to sell them to the same list of potential buyers. In a dynamic marketplace that can mean death – slow, ugly death.
I know a little about that race. I owned a small business that grew steadily for ten years until we hit the wall. We needed larger clients to balance the one large account that represented 60 percent of our business. My company had hit the wall.
I followed all the conventional runner’s tricks. I looked for gurus, seeking advice from the mentors who had enticed me into running this crazy race in the first place. We bought into our trade organization’s “growing your business‎ seminars. And we worked on our productivity, investing in the latest computer technology and internal billing and job tracking systems. We won awards and hyped our award-winner image. I even bought a building – a city landmark – so we might be perceived as a big player worthy of bigger accounts.
However, we continued to be left off the short list for larger regional accounts. We even created a new business of our own ─ a very expensive mistake, but certainly not fatal. No, what killed me was “the wall‎. I couldn’t get us through it and I started thinking I was the problem. Everyone else in the company seemed satisfied running shorter races, why not me?
After giving a rare new business presentation to a large statewide bank – one where I used a personal friend in the local branch to arrange ─ I waited breathlessly for the prospect’s response. I could tell, this guy was impressed. So, when I expectantly asked for the business and how we might proceed, he flushed. “I can’t tell you how good this stuff you showed me is. We started our review process a couple months ago and asked for presentations from large and smaller companies such as yours. Yours was one of the best I’ve seen. You definitely would have made the short list. But we’re down to two firms now and we’re announcing our decision on Monday. Basically, it’s too late. When Mickey (my friend) asked me to come, I agreed as a courtesy, not expecting to see anything like this. I’m terribly sorry.‎
My staff shrugged and returned to their desks. I climbed the spiral stairs to my comfy corner office, closed the door and said aloud to no one, “it’s over‎. In the weeks following I offered to sell the business to my two senior execs and within nine months I was gone. Race over, I hit the wall.
If the internet were available then, I’m certain we could have shattered that wall.
On the net, good companies with innovative