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May 25, 2007
Seth Godin and "The Dip"
Seth Godin
Some of my colleagues and I had the chance to hear Seth Godin speak earlier this week at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Seth was there to promote his latest book, “The Dip,” and talk to us about when it’s time to quit.
Time to quit?
I promise, it’s a good thing, just as Seth pointed out.
He focused on quitting not in the bad sense, like giving up your paper route as a kid because you were bored with it, but rather, quitting at something to realize a bigger and better goal. We all want to be the best at what we do, but is that really overrated in the long run? Shouldn’t we just focus on continuously striving to improve ourselves? Seth thinks so.
Seth pointed out some famous quitters, such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as examples of people who were ok at one thing (in Jeff’s case, being a financial analyst), but quit that to start something they’re great at (starting amazon.com). We all have the choice to give up or keep going when we hit “the dip,” but in the end it’s really up to us to decide how we want to proceed and realize sometimes we can’t do it all.
I understand what he means. I used to be a pretty good newspaper designer, but I think I’m a much better blogger (I’ll let my colleagues try to argue me on that one!). I think the same is true when trying to deliver the high-class services to your clients. You can always find room for improvement.
I asked Melanie Seasons and Chris Poterala for their thoughts after Seth’s lecture.
Melanie Seasons:
“I'm interested in reading the book. It makes sense from an economics-type standpoint, but these decisions are too often based on emotion. I think his main point (and not having read the book) is how to separate the logos from the pathos in making business decisions.”
Chris Poterala:
“Seth's talk was very timely for me, reminding me that we do not need to try to do everything, and that if we do, we will end up not doing anything well ... it helped me focus on getting things done and doing them well. I really liked the sense that we don't need to be all for all.
What do you think about “The Dip?” If you were at the lecture or have read the point, let us know.
Read all about Seth's visit over at Connect in Ann Arbor.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:46 PM
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May 24, 2007
U.S. government uses blog format to discuss pandemic flu preparedness
By Kai Blum
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is currently hosting a five-week Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog, in order "to have an open conversation and shape the thinking about how to communicate the critical need for individual pandemic flu preparedness at home and within workplaces and communities."
Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, blogger Michael Coston (Avian Flu Diary), and Greg Dworkin (Flu Wiki & Flu Wiki Forum) were the first to share their thoughts on the subject.
Comments are welcome and provide everyone an opportunity to be actively involved in the discussion. Reading the comments is extremely interesting, since they give a glimpse into the lack of preparedness on a local level. For example, a reader from a small rural city in Iowa wrote:
- “I recently asked a town council member if the city had a disaster preparedness plan especially about pandemic flu. I was met with a wide-eyed surprised look by the council member. He had never heard of it. He told me that if I got the flu, to go to the doctor.”
Hopefully, the Department of Health and Human Services will carefully read each comment and act upon this reader feedback. They should also not limit the life span of this blog to five weeks. It should be continued indefinitely as a daily resource and exchange of information.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:07 PM
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May 23, 2007
Facebook launches marketplace
Not wanting to be left behind by the likes of MySpace's classifieds or even Craig's List, Facebook launched its own "Marketplace" on May 14. Here's how Facebook's Jared Morgenstern describes it:
- As of today, Facebook has fully rolled out our new Marketplace feature. You can use Marketplace to list what you have and what you want within your group of friends, networks, or other networks. Beyond its use for classified listings, you can use Marketplace to get a sense of everything available or desired within your networks.
Taking a look at the Detroit, Mich., marketplace (membership required for viewing), I found everything from apartment listings, a Buick Grand National with 15,000 miles on it, designer handbags, and snakes. Yes, snakes on a Facebook page, if you will...
Facebook is definitely NOT the first to start a classified service aimed at college kids. As Mashable reports, there's already a huge crop of sites to choose from. But in terms of new Facebook initiatives, this might be one of Facebook's better choices.
While I'm now not sure how long the virtual gifts are going to make it, despite a new item being launched daily, the marketplace looks like it's set to take off. Selling textbooks or looking for a summer subleaser seem much more practical to the college mindset than a $1 pixelated jock strap.
Not a Facebook member? Check out this visual tour of the marketplace Digg created.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 10:37 AM
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May 22, 2007
Don't forget! Seth Godin visits Ann Arbor today
You still have time to register for the Seth Godin lecture this afternoon at the Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor. Doors are at 2 p.m., and the event begins at 3 p.m. Check out these links to get all the information you'll need. To keep up to date on the latest, check out Connect Ann Arbor on Twitter. Hope to see everyone there!
Seth Godin in Lights
Connect Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor Ad Club
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 11:40 AM
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May 21, 2007
Google Cracks Down on “Made For AdSense” sites
By Kai Blum
There have been reports on WebmasterWorld over the weekend that Google is cracking down on people who use the AdWords/AdSense system to make money by setting up low quality web sites full of Google ads and by applying a technique called arbitrage. Apparently, Google notified them by e-mail that their AdSense accounts will be terminated June 1.
It is surprising to me that Google hasn’t done this earlier. Did it really take them that long to catch up with this practice? Or did they finally have to do something, because of news that click fraud represents 10-15% of advertisers' billed traffic. These numbers may or may not be accurate, but potential click fraud is certainly one of the reasons why I advise our clients to run ads only on the Search Network and not on the Content Network. (Low-quality clicks on the Content Network may also be triggered by boredom, curiosity, and the intention by some visitors to do the site/blog owner a favor by randomly clicking on some ads.) Ads on the Search Network, on the other hand, often cost significantly more per click, but – and this is the big difference - search engine users are actively looking for specific information and the chance to turn them into customers are much higher and worth the extra cost.
Whatever the reason for this crackdown, the result will make the user experience better by delivering more relevant information. Isn’t that what Google is all about and what made them so successful?
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 03:24 PM
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May 18, 2007
Get ready for BlogPhiladelphia
Mark your calendars now for July 12-13 as Philly will be the place to be for the inaugural BlogPhiladelphia, an "unconference" for those who find themselves going to too many "real" conferences.
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and Philly blog uwishunu.com are hosting this FREE social media event. There will be a few panels, but the majority of the two days will be spent in breakout sessions and chatting with other like-minded individuals in the blogosphere. To get a better idea of the event, check out BlogOrlando or BarCamp.
So just who will be speaking? Take a look.
- Josh Hallet, BlogOrlando founder
- David Parmet, PR exec
- Joey Sweeney, editor, philebrity.com
- Alex Hillman, web developer, founder, independentshall.org
- Maura Johnston, editor, idolator.com
- Howard Greenstein, co-founder, SocialMediaClub.org
- Dave Coustan, Earthlink
Still not sure if you want to go? Yours truly is speaking, too. So, like I said before, mark your calendars for BlogPhiladelphia, and stay tuned to BlogWorks for more updates.
For our Michigan readers, make sure to check out BarCampGrandRapids2
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:29 PM
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May 17, 2007
Shortage of qualified corporate bloggers in Europe
By Kai Blum
Are you an experienced corporate blogger? Thinking about moving to Europe? Now would be a good time, because your expertise is currently in high demand there.
According to EuroBlog 2007, a recently published survey among 409 PR professionals from 24 European countries, the number of professionals that read and run blogs has roughly doubled in one year and commenting has increased fivefold:
- 79% read blogs (up from 37% in 2006)
- 38% run blogs (up from 21%)
- 51% comment on blogs (up from 10%)
However – and this is remarkable - the same PR professionals name an interesting set of factors that limit the use of blogs by their organizations:
- Lack of employees with the right skills (69%)
- Cannot demonstrate ROI from weblogs (42%)
- Concern about legal issues (34%)
- Not possible to measure impact of their social media activity (34%)
- Cannot control reader comments (32%)
They also name the biggest challenges using blogs:
- Integrating blogs into communications strategy (88%)
- Having time to blog regularly (83%)
- Reacting to comments (83%)
- Creating content and ideas for posts (80%)
But they also recognize the opportunities that weblogs offer:
Last, but not least: Employing professional blog monitoring services saw a sharp rise from 6% in 2006 to 20% in 2007. That’s still pretty low, in my opinion, and there may be many job and business opportunities there as well.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:33 PM
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May 11, 2007
“Nomen est omen” for search traffic
By Kai Blum
The Romans already knew that “name is destiny,” and when it comes to search engine rankings and traffic, this is so obvious that I almost don’t want to write about it. But I still come across cases where web site owners are complaining about the lack of traffic they receive through search engines, without realizing that their misfortune already began when they misnamed their site.
Without proper keyword research you may just as well not put up a web site at all. You can bet that at least some of your competitors did their SEO homework, and they will outrank you forever if you don’t do the same.
So, do yourself a favor and:
- Create a list of keyword phrases that search engine users will most likely use to find your content.
- Use Google’s keyword tool and check for variations of your keyword phrases and for their search volume.
- Create a new list that contains the keyword phrases with the most search volume.
- Check out your competition: Who is top-ranked for the keyword phrases on your list? What have they done to optimize their pages for the particular keyword phrase? Could you do better? Who is linking to them? Could you get more and better links?
When you use a tool like Backlinkwatch, you will notice that the link text for each link is listed. You will also notice that often the keywords, for which the particular site is top-ranked in Google, are used to link to that site. But how do you make sure that sites that you want to link to your site use your keywords in their link text? Simple: Give your site a name that contains your desired keyword phrase!
Let me summarize: Select the right keyword phrase, name your site accordingly, follow basic on-page optimization rules, do the proper link building… your site will be top-ranked in Google.
Contact us if you need advice.
Posted by Alicia Dorset at 02:46 PM
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