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Posts Tagged ‘Colleagues’

Some of my colleagues have had some pretty good results in purchasing content to either start up a site, to provide specific informative posts, or even to feed an ongoing ghostblogging program. Building great content can be challenging, so a number of services have popped up to help companies build their content library.

If you decide to go cheap or buy a lot of articles in bulk, you can run the risk of buying content that’s been pilfered from some other location on the web. Textbroker is an inexpensive service that offers content. This week they launched UN.COV.ER, a free application for verifying that your content is unique.

UN.CO.VER can be used several different ways:

• A single URL
• Manually-entered text (copy & paste)
• An entire Web site, including domains and sub-domains

In fact, you can check an entire Web project for duplicates:

Our Unique Content Verifier has an integrated “crawl” function that creates a sitemap of your entire Internet project and its written contents. Then UN.CO.VER automatically compares each of these texts to millions of pages and reports back with a host of data, including the percentage of words copied and the exact words copied. The current version’s autostart function offers you complete protection without lifting a finger. When Windows starts, so does UN.COV.ER, ensuring that your content is checked for duplicates every single day.

If you’re working with third party content providers, this tool may be your best investment. The last thing you need is to have your site identified as a spam site or get sued for publishing protected content.

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization. Their clients include Webtrends, ChaCha and many more.

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Anyone who has been working on a PPC account for a while- whether it be your own or a client’s- probably reaches a point of inspiration deficiency. A new PPC account can be like a new toy (if you’re not as nerdy as us, as I’m assuming you are, and this does not hold true for you I apologize); it’s fun setting it up and seeing what it does and how the world responds. But after a while, you have other new accounts to play with. Or you don’t, and this is the one account you’ll be handling forevermore. Either way, boredom can lead to neglect, and neglect will eventually damage your account’s profitability. So what to do? Get a little creative and find new ways to improve your accounts:

• Use your colleagues! It really doesn’t matter if they do PPC as well (though that helps)- anyone with familiarity with your product or service can give a new perspective, which can be very helpful when your ad texts all start to look the same and you can’t think of one more benefit for your landing pages. If you do work with other internet marketers, you can take this one step further and ask them to review your accounts for anything you may be overlooking, and for new ideas. This works beautifully and I think you should try it. Aside from actually having coworkers review your accounts, if you have access to theirs, you can also get ideas for settings or account structure changes by looking at what works for them and then applying relevant findings to your own clients.

• Remember there’s a world outside of your PPC account. It’s not all keywords and ad texts- don’t overlook landing page testing! Clients, even if wary of website redesigns, often will allocate budget for one-page design projects if you can adequately justify the increase in conversion rates they’re likely to see as a result.

• Think outside the PPC box- luckily, at Hanapin we have both PPC and SEO clients, so we have a bit of an advantage in this area, but if you don’t, you can still look at your website from a non-PPC perspective. Improvements to your site’s structure, updated content or products, and social media integration can all translate into new PPC opportunities. Updated content can give you ideas for new ad texts and landing page messaging. New products translate to keyword targeting opportunities. Understanding who your customer is and what they want from you via social media can help your messaging become more targeted as well. Meeting your visitors’ needs and expectations is paramount to success in all areas of internet marketing, and exploring how you’re doing that outside of PPC can open your eyes to a lot of possibility.

• You can ask search engine reps for help and ideas, particularly if you work at an agency and have dedicated reps for this kind of thing. I’ll just say a) they are extremely helpful, and sometimes have great ideas and b) you should always take their ideas with a grain of salt, because ultimately their first job is to increase their employer’s profit…not yours. If you choose growth avenues wisely, you can find a balance that does both simultaneously: lovely!

One last note: don’t let your desire to try something new win out over your ROI’s best interest…some ideas are more likely to have a substantial impact than others, and you know your account well enough to understand logically what’s most likely to be useful and what is just a pointless waste of time and money. Trust yourself, do your research, and get inspired. Everyone will be better off for it.

Check out The Adventures of PPC Hero: Heroic Feats of Pay Per Click Management at http://www.ppchero.com/. Copyright © 2007-2010 Hanapin Marketing, LLC.

I’ve been using Google Wave now for a number of months. When I first heard about Wave, I thought it sounded like it might be interesting. I then watched the incredibly long video about the tool and was overwhelmed by the power and potential of what seemed to be a pending revolution in online communication.

After requesting an invite and finally receiving access to the service I slowly began picking up connections to other friends and colleagues that also had access to Google Wave. For a communication tool, it makes it far less helpful if you can’t talk to the people you’re regularly interacting with anyway on a daily basis.

Google Wave promises to provide opportunities for organizing events, sharing communication and documents evenly distributed. You can share photos, ideas, videos, notes, documents, and even games all on the same platform within an existing browser window.

The reality is I still haven’t experienced the real revolution in communication for myself. The most extended use I’ve seen from Google Wave is the collaboration I’ve done with a friend of mine that’s writing for one of my blogs. We share goals, ideas, questions and strategies with each other in a Wave and it works well.

I’m still waiting for it to really take off though. I think the way they could put the use into overdrive would be to almost replace the existing Gmail functionality with Google Wave. Oh, and while they’re at it, just incorporate Google Documents and Google Chat in there as well. Maybe even a sprinkle of Google Groups to carry over as well.

I still think Google Wave will revolutionize online communication. I just don’t think it’s going to happen until an even wider user base is capable of getting on the platform and other Google services are either incorporated or eliminated.

This post was written by Jason Bean

Jason has been blogging since 2005 on topics ranging from technology, television, music and his home city of Indianapolis. He's been a writer on a variety of blog networks and websites, and continues to develop his own web presence and properties as he goes. Trying to balance teaching himself more about technology and social media, his ultimate goal is to be helpful to anyone he can. Jason has two wonderful children and an amazing wife and lives on the south side of Indianapolis.

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As I look back at the last year, it’s nothing short of amazing. Thanksgiving isn’t really a holiday at all without first thanking God… thank-you God! You’ve truly blessed me and my family this year. My son and daughter are the greatest gifts I’ve ever received in my life. I’m not always the best father in the world – sometimes missing opportunities because of business – but it can’t take away from how I feel. If I lost it all tomorrow, my children would still keep a smile on my face.

Thank-you Friends

I started to write a list of the people and businesses to thank this year and it honestly scared the heck out of me… after about 50, I started to sweat that I would forget someone! There are a core group of friends that I work with that I must mention, including Adam Small from Connective Mobile, James Paden of Vibrant Solutions, Mark Ballard of Bark Mallard and Jason Carr from The Bean Cup. I worked with these guys every day over the last few months and they cheered me on, give me a hard time, and encourage me to do bigger and better. Surround yourself with good people and you’ll always be successful.

PS: Mark is moving back to San Diego after Thanksgiving. Mark will be missed and I’m sorry we couldn’t get his business up and successful here in Indianapolis… it’s been a rough year for too many.

Thank-you Readers!

As always, a blog isn’t much of a medium unless people listen and participate. I’m thankful for the continually growing readership of The Marketing Technology Blog and for the new bloggers who have provided some quality posts and different voices here.

Thank-you Colleagues

I can’t do this post without thanking Chris Baggott and Compendium. I wouldn’t have been able to launch this business without the support they’ve provided. Thanks to Kyle Lacy for the intro to Wiley which has subsequently turned into the book I’m writing. And, of course, thanks to Chantelle Flannery for assisting me in getting the book written!

And Finally

Thanks to Ryan Cox who put this idea out to folks to raise money for #tweetsgiving. TweetsGiving is a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude.

November 24 – 26, 2009, this 48-hour event created by US nonprofit Epic Change will encourage participants to express their thanks using online tools and at live events. Guests will be invited to give to a common cause at events held across the globe in honor of the people and things that make them grateful.

For those of you in Indianapolis, stop by Scotty’s Brewhouse tonight in downtown Indianapolis where some money is going to get raised.

This post was written by Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search engine optimization.

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• Thank You! (40)

Today is the second annual celebration of Tweetsgiving. The initiative raised money to build a classroom in Tanzania last year. The effort is expanding this year, but will again benefit the same school in Tanzania, among other initiatives driven by Epic Change, the organizing body, and participating folks who wish to drive donations or attention to their own causes.

Danny Brown, originator of the 12 For 12K Challenge and charitable effort, asked me to participate. Certainly I wouldn’t hesitate to do so. All he asked me to do was make sure you were aware of Tweetsgiving with a post, expressed what I was thankful for and used the hashtag #tweetsgiving throughout the week to remind folks of the important work we can all do if we rally around a good cause. Social media can be awfully good sometimes.

All that said, it’s hard for me to know where to start when thinking of what I’m thankful for. The happiness and health of my children and wife is atop the list. My family and friends, clients and colleagues … the fantastic people that color my life — all there, too. I’m thankful my business decisions this year have proven fruitful and seem to have the potential to continue to support me and my family. I’m thankful for the community building around my church and son’s school that will likely be the anchor of our lives for the next 20 years or more.

I’m thankful for the wonderful people who read my blog, tell others about it and help keep my thoughts and opinions about the social media and public relations space relevant to more people than they probably should be. I’m thankful for my friends/followers/fans on Twitter, Facebook and other sites. You enrich my experiences daily.

I’m thankful for people like Danny Brown, Geoff Livingston and Dave Delaney who have made a habit out of using social media for good. These guys, and those like them, make us all better just by being themselves.

I’m thankful for people who have made sacrifices for us. My friend Chad, soon to deploy for a tour of duty in Afghanistan because the 21 months he spent in Iraq wasn’t enough. My Grandfather, who spent three weeks in France in World War II, then three years in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., before recovering and living 50 more years with one leg and unmentionable pain and discomfort for his service.

I’m thankful for my mother, who raised me by herself for much of my childhood. I could thank her everyday as long as I live and it wouldn’t be enough.

I’m thankful my friend Garry is doing better after knocking on death’s door recently. I’m going to be even more thankful the next time I get to hug him.

I could go on. Couldn’t we all?

Each of us have an immeasurable amount to be thankful for. It’s sad that it takes a holiday or two each year to remind us of that. We should think about those things every day. But at least we do recognize it from time to time.

Danny and the rest of the Tweetsgiving gang would be honored if you donated a bit to their cause. I would certainly be thankful for that, too. Even if you can’t give a few dollars, share the link with your friends. Remind them that we have so much that others don’t. If anything, use this week to remind you that it’s a good idea to share a bit of what we do have with them.

At least go read the story and watch the videos. It’ll give you a sense of pride that all of us together can do a hell of lot of good. And that’s something we can all be thankful for, too.

Here’s hoping you’re week is exceptional. Thank you for reading.

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Those of you who have seen me speak have often heard me speak out against Facebook. I’m on Facebook, I participate on Facebook… but I don’t like it. There are quite a few things I don’t enjoy on Facebook:

1. The navigation makes no sense to me. There are menus, side menus, navigation that appears… I get lost and don’t believe it’s intuitive at all.
2. I joke that Facebook is simply AOL 10.0. It’s a closed system… it wants to own everything and doesn’t want you to leave. There are great sites all over the net, quit expecting me to do everything there!
3. There are no options for personalization. I’m tired of Facebook blue (#3B5998). Let me put a style sheet on my page and customize it!
4. Sponsored links are an endless supply of “Singles”… Single Moms, Single Christians, Singles… LEAVE ME ALONE! I’ve clicked X a hundred times, get the point!
5. Facebook will fail (yes, I said it!) unless it can correct one universal weakness, though. The majority of my time in Facebook is spent managing Facebook… not using it. I have to ignore apps, ignore invitations, ignore events, ignore friend requests, ignore causes, ignore becoming a fan, and ignore advertisements. It’s not fun… it’s annoying.

The viral application framework within Facebook is its biggest flaw. Since I have a large network of friends, family and colleagues, I login and have an unending list of invitations. It’s ridiculous and never stops. I know there are some settings I can manage to help this… but I can’t figure out where they are. I just want to block all application requests to start.

This is just my opinion, of course! I’d like to hear yours…

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There was quite a firestorm when I promoted utilizing crowdSPRING. Those in the design community who I respect so much though it was a bit hypocritical to appreciate crowdSPRING and other spec systems like 99designs, while advocating hiring design agencies as well.

I don’t believe it’s one or the other, I do appreciate both! I challenged a couple of the No! Spec supporters to come up with some advice:

• How do business startups get great design without the resources to pay for it?
• How do new designers get opportunities to get their name and work on the market (without doing free designs!)

There may be a third option, too. If your a business and can’t afford a great designer, perhaps you can get some opinions regarding your design or design concepts. That’s just what Concept Feedback has developed.

Concept Feedback is a bit of a mashup… somewhere between a social network for designers and a Digg-style application to vote for design concepts. Perhaps the most notable feature is that you do not have to post the concept publicly, you can control who has access to your concept. This could be useful for focus group style feedback!

Why did Andrew launch the site?

As a marketing director, Andrew Follett had launched many design concepts… carefully emailing them out to friends, family and colleagues, then detailing the feedback. The process took a lot of time and wasn’t very helpful. In January, Andrew approached a friend at DevBridge about the idea. DevBridge decided to partner with Andrew and development began in March. Concept Feedback was launched in May.

What are Andrew’s hopes for the future of the site?

Right now, Andrew is working on growing the number of users on the site and participating designers. As they continue to grow, they want to actually utilize Concept Feedback to continue enhancing and developing additional features into the site.

I think this is a great concept! As well, kudos to DevBridge on the development of the site!

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