I am not a Digg power user and I have not used Digg continuously. I check out Digg from time-to-time and usually because I get directed there by a 3rd party to read an article. But with the recent changes to the “New” Digg, I actually signed up for an account (Profile: SMBStrategy) and have been gradually adding links to my web sites. I am also working with a client right now to include Digg in their social networking strategy. How I use Digg and will use it with clients is not greatly affected by the recent accusations, but it does make me think about ethics and the Internet and how the culture among Digg users expects openness.
Since I am not a power, I am coming to the game late, but this post by LtGenPanda called “Did Digg Game Its Own System?” is very compelling and the data speaks for itself. If not Digg, Someone is gaming the system. Also, if this was orchestrated by Digg, and I am not saying it was, I am sure there was a good reason. With all the unrest at Digg, there needs to be a shake up. There needs to be a better strategy that includes better revenue streams, but back to ethics and the culture.
The solution is that Digg should be open about the new strategy and don’t hide. Let’s call it what it is – ADVERTISING – and label it as advertising or sponsored listing or featured listing or Digg Digged this Article. At this point we have all been programmed to see advertising on most web sites and certainly on search engines, directories and other aggregators. Twitter has even slid in sponsored recommendations and labeled them as such.
Update: Since I originally wrote this post, Digg has apologized and clarified what that the fake users was just to test their algorithm. I am not going to get into it here, you can read about it at ReadWriteWeb or on the Digg Blog. Despite these moves my message is still the same - open communication and a new business model that includes paid sponsored listings, after all accepting these changes is better than no Digg...
Follow me on Digg: http://digg.com/SMBStrategy
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Why You Should Know What LongURL.org Is?
I found out about LongUrl.org while reviewing the web log files for a client. The site is a new site, so there was not a lot of traffic, so even though there were not a lot of visitors coming from the url, it stuck out. When I looked at log files from other sites, I saw the url as referrer in each site. I needed to investigate...
LongURL.org's message is "Avoid phishing, malware, and viruses by examining short URL's before visiting them." There service is simple - paste a shortened URL like the ones I create with Bit.ly for use on Twitter and click expand. The results are the destination page title, long URL, and if there are an redirects. When I pasted the shortened URL from my last blog post here were the results:
It is an extra step, but what do you really know about who you are following on Twitter beyond the 160 character bio? If you are not sure why not take the extra 30 seconds to check it before you click it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
82a7251454f1408db9b2ccece2b25d5b
LongURL.org's message is "Avoid phishing, malware, and viruses by examining short URL's before visiting them." There service is simple - paste a shortened URL like the ones I create with Bit.ly for use on Twitter and click expand. The results are the destination page title, long URL, and if there are an redirects. When I pasted the shortened URL from my last blog post here were the results:
It is an extra step, but what do you really know about who you are following on Twitter beyond the 160 character bio? If you are not sure why not take the extra 30 seconds to check it before you click it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
82a7251454f1408db9b2ccece2b25d5b
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
What Is The Future of eMail and Snail Mail
A few weeks ago I tweeted:
Are you ready to say goodbye to email and email marketing? - All Email is Spam http://bit.ly/cNTBqC #Baseline
The article referenced in the tweet is an article from Baseline Magazine by Samuel Greengard. The gist of the article is that Mr. Greengard has returned from vacation to an inbox with 3,600 emails. He questions the value of all the various newsletters and other emails and goes on a campaign to unsubscribe and delete.
We have probably all been to this point, in fact I do not travel anymore without access to email or else my first two days back in the office are just spent wrestling the inbox. There are a couple things that I try to do to keep my inbox manageable:
1. I have a folder system where all keeper emails go.
2. I have a folder labelled AAA where emails I am not sure about go. Once a week, I delete any email in this folder older than 60 days. If I have not needed the email in 60 days, I probably don't need it ever.
3. Finally, if you are not reading that great email newsletter that you subscribed to because you needed it every day, then unsubscribe.
With your email inbox managed, what about snail mail. The amount of junk mail I receive is crazy. I put my mail on hold for a week in August when I went on vacation and when I returned I had a bin waiting for me. Most of the contents of the bin was junk that was either shredded or went straight into the recycle bin. Half the mail was addressed to previous residents of my townhouse and why do I need 12 credit card applications from the same bank in a 7 day period? Check out this web page on what to do if you have the same problems with mail: http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
Are you ready to say goodbye to email and email marketing? - All Email is Spam http://bit.ly/cNTBqC #Baseline
The article referenced in the tweet is an article from Baseline Magazine by Samuel Greengard. The gist of the article is that Mr. Greengard has returned from vacation to an inbox with 3,600 emails. He questions the value of all the various newsletters and other emails and goes on a campaign to unsubscribe and delete.
We have probably all been to this point, in fact I do not travel anymore without access to email or else my first two days back in the office are just spent wrestling the inbox. There are a couple things that I try to do to keep my inbox manageable:
1. I have a folder system where all keeper emails go.
2. I have a folder labelled AAA where emails I am not sure about go. Once a week, I delete any email in this folder older than 60 days. If I have not needed the email in 60 days, I probably don't need it ever.
3. Finally, if you are not reading that great email newsletter that you subscribed to because you needed it every day, then unsubscribe.
With your email inbox managed, what about snail mail. The amount of junk mail I receive is crazy. I put my mail on hold for a week in August when I went on vacation and when I returned I had a bin waiting for me. Most of the contents of the bin was junk that was either shredded or went straight into the recycle bin. Half the mail was addressed to previous residents of my townhouse and why do I need 12 credit card applications from the same bank in a 7 day period? Check out this web page on what to do if you have the same problems with mail: http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Are Mobile Barcode Tags Ready for Primetime?
When I opened my Crutchfield catalog I new I was destined to write about mobile barcode tags. The subject has been coming up more and more lately. Then this afternoon I am listening to the No Agenda Podcast, where barcodes are mentioned, then I open up the Crutchfield catalog and bam, on page five a barcode.
Sorry about the quality but I snapped this with a Blackberry Storm and then increased the brightness. The good news is the quality is good enough for the App, which means you can take a picture of the screen to try it yourself.
I ended up loading the App on the site in the above image, http://gettag.mobi, which is a Microsoft App simply called Tag. I tried loading an App from the Blackberry App store, but the App that seemed to be the right one had a half star rating. I won't mention the App by name, but all 56 reviewers said it did not work. I did not even bother to try it, but wonder why is this App even in the store?
It took only a few minutes to download, install, and setup Tag. I then clicked the scan button in the App which took me to the built in camera App. I took the picture and was redirect back to the App, which took 10 seconds to process before opening the browser and directing it to the Crutchfield article.
There is definitely a cool factor with this technology and I can think of a lot of uses. In this sample I was directed to a static web page, but one could also be directed to audio or video. This opens up the options. Add a barcode to a piece of art at a park and someone can be directed to an audio file on the background on the artist. Include a barcode on a coupon that opens a mobile web page with directions. Definitely a cool factor but I question how many of your customers are using or will use vs. What it takes to setup.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
Sorry about the quality but I snapped this with a Blackberry Storm and then increased the brightness. The good news is the quality is good enough for the App, which means you can take a picture of the screen to try it yourself.
I ended up loading the App on the site in the above image, http://gettag.mobi, which is a Microsoft App simply called Tag. I tried loading an App from the Blackberry App store, but the App that seemed to be the right one had a half star rating. I won't mention the App by name, but all 56 reviewers said it did not work. I did not even bother to try it, but wonder why is this App even in the store?
It took only a few minutes to download, install, and setup Tag. I then clicked the scan button in the App which took me to the built in camera App. I took the picture and was redirect back to the App, which took 10 seconds to process before opening the browser and directing it to the Crutchfield article.
There is definitely a cool factor with this technology and I can think of a lot of uses. In this sample I was directed to a static web page, but one could also be directed to audio or video. This opens up the options. Add a barcode to a piece of art at a park and someone can be directed to an audio file on the background on the artist. Include a barcode on a coupon that opens a mobile web page with directions. Definitely a cool factor but I question how many of your customers are using or will use vs. What it takes to setup.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Follow me on Twitter @SMBStrategy
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Optimizing Your Twitter Profile and Adding Your Twitter to Directories
Before spending time on directories review your profile. Most directories show your profile in search results and allow one to search on a profile. The same care should be taken when writing your Twitter profile as any web site Search Engine Optimization (SEO) exercise. A good correlation is comparing your Twitter profile to the meta description tag on a web site. Your profile should include your keywords but at the same time look like real English.
Here is what the search results on Twellow look like for my Twitter account - @SMBStrategy. The description is the bio from my twitter account and it includes my full company name, web address, as well as some of my keywords like new jersey, management consulting, and small business.
Most of these directories are pulling data from Twitter so chances are you are already in a directory. My own Twitter account as well as those of my clients were in the directories I tried. In the case of Twellow, it only takes a few minutes to claim your Twitter account and be able to edit the profile. The stress is that some of these directories including Twellow require you to submit your Twitter user/password.
Once you have signed up for a directory there are options to update your profile to improve how your Twitter shows up in search results. Some options include a long profile and adding categories. Just like your Twitter profile, you should treat this as an SEO exercise. What are your most important keywords and is it possible to link back to your site using these keywords. In the long profile for Twellow, I linked back to my site using the management consulting keywords. For WeFollow I choose tags that included my keywords like managementconsulting and businessplan.
For more information on Twitter directories you can view the list i setup in Twitter @SMBStrategy/twitter-directories. Also check out the article "5 Most Popular Twitter Directories That Will Grow Your Personal Brand". The article includes links to the directories and their registration pages.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Here is what the search results on Twellow look like for my Twitter account - @SMBStrategy. The description is the bio from my twitter account and it includes my full company name, web address, as well as some of my keywords like new jersey, management consulting, and small business.
Most of these directories are pulling data from Twitter so chances are you are already in a directory. My own Twitter account as well as those of my clients were in the directories I tried. In the case of Twellow, it only takes a few minutes to claim your Twitter account and be able to edit the profile. The stress is that some of these directories including Twellow require you to submit your Twitter user/password.
Once you have signed up for a directory there are options to update your profile to improve how your Twitter shows up in search results. Some options include a long profile and adding categories. Just like your Twitter profile, you should treat this as an SEO exercise. What are your most important keywords and is it possible to link back to your site using these keywords. In the long profile for Twellow, I linked back to my site using the management consulting keywords. For WeFollow I choose tags that included my keywords like managementconsulting and businessplan.
For more information on Twitter directories you can view the list i setup in Twitter @SMBStrategy/twitter-directories. Also check out the article "5 Most Popular Twitter Directories That Will Grow Your Personal Brand". The article includes links to the directories and their registration pages.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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