Oct. 26, 2007 - Creating a social network on Ning - My experience
I thought I might share with you my personal experience on creating a social network on www.Ning.com . Ning is a social networking platform in which anyone can start their own unique online community. As of the time of this article, there are over 100,000 social networks on Ning, with 70,000 of them having been created in just the past seven months alone.
I actually just stumbled upon Ning earlier this summer. I immediately fell in love with the options it provided for someone who wanted to start their own community. It’s an easy way to start an online community for your leads group, your business, your church, or other group. Ning is free to use.
I started a community which you can view at www.PetBoogaloo.ning.com , which is a social networking site for pet enthusiasts. In my easy-to-use control panel, I could create my desired color scheme and graphics. I wanted to provide all the members of my community the ability to add and share their pet videos, pet photos, and to blog about their pets. I also wanted my members to be able to participate in forum discussions, and create to their own groups within the PetBoogaloo community. Every member also has their own profile page, which they can customize even further. Members are able to actively network with each other if they want to.
Adding these features onto PetBoogaloo was easy. I simply selected the features I wanted to provide to my members, and clicked and dragged them to where I wanted them placed on the PetBoogaloo site.
You can also select whether you want your community to be public or private. I’ve noticed that public communities rank very high in the search engines, which is a huge member benefit, particularly if you have business members who want to increase their own website’s search engine rankings.
If you want to get more technical, you can. Ning offers the ability for you to control your own source code. If you or your webmaster wants to further customize the site, you can request and then alter your source code. Initially, I planned on doing that as I loved the option of complete control, but what I found is that once you order the source code, you don’t benefit from all the new features that Ning is constantly providing. With all the current available options, and with the Ning programming team constantly delivering new state of the art features, I decided to go back and have Ning manage the source code instead.
You of course still need to market your community to your desired audience, so that they know you are there.
What is Blog Action Day? It's a commitment that bloggers are making across the world, to keep the conversation about the environment . Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relate to their own topics.
I thought for my part, I would post simple things that you can do in your home that will reduce energy consumption. This list is from National Resource Defence Council
EASY ENERGY-SAVING HABITS (Free!)
Don't forget the basics. This simple stuff will save energy -- and money -- right now.
Unplug
Unplug seldom-used appliances, like an extra refrigerator in the basement or garage that contains just a few items. You may save around $10 every month on your utility bill.
Unplug your chargers when you're not charging. Every house is full of little plastic power supplies to charge cell phones, PDA's, digital cameras, cordless tools and other personal gadgets. Keep them unplugged until you need them.
Use power strips to switch off televisions, home theater equipment, and stereos when you're not using them. Even when you think these products are off, together, their "standby" consumption can be equivalent to that of a 75 or 100 watt light bulb running continuously.
Set Computers to Sleep and Hibernate
Enable the "sleep mode" feature on your computer, allowing it to use less power during periods of inactivity. In Windows, the power management settings are found on your control panel. Mac users, look for energy saving settings under system preferences in the apple menu.
Configure your computer to "hibernate" automatically after 30 minutes or so of inactivity. The "hibernate mode" turns the computer off in a way that doesn't require you to reload everything when you switch it back on. Allowing your computer to hibernate saves energy and is more time-efficient than shutting down and restarting your computer from scratch.
Take Control of Temperature
Set your thermostat in winter to 68 degrees or less during the daytime, and 55 degrees before going to sleep (or when you're away for the day). During the summer, set thermostats to 78 degrees or more.
Use sunlight wisely. During the heating season, leave shades and blinds open on sunny days, but close them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. Close shades and blinds during the summer or when the air conditioner is in use or will be in use later in the day.
Set the thermostat on your water heater between 120 and 130 degrees. Lower temperatures can save more energy, but you might run out of hot water or end up using extra electricity to boost the hot water temperature in your dishwasher.
Use Appliances Efficiently
Set your refrigerator temperature at 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit; your freezer should be set between 0 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Use the power-save switch if your fridge has one, and make sure the door seals tightly. You can check this by making sure that a dollar bill closed in between the door gaskets is difficult to pull out. If it slides easily between the gaskets, replace them.
Don't preheat or "peek" inside the oven more than necessary. Check the seal on the oven door, and use a microwave oven for cooking or reheating small items.
Wash only full loads in your dishwasher, using short cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes. This saves water and the energy used to pump and heat it. Air-drying, if you have the time, can also reduce energy use.
In your clothes washer, set the appropriate water level for the size of the load; wash in cold water when practical, and always rinse in cold.
Clean the lint filter in the dryer after each use. Dry heavy and light fabrics separately and don't add wet items to a load that's already partly dry. If available, use the moisture sensor setting. (A clothesline is the most energy-efficient clothes dryer of all!)
Turn Out the Lights
Don't forget to flick the switch when you leave a room
Remember this at the office, too. Turn out or dim the lights in unused conference rooms, and when you step out for lunch. Work by daylight when possible. A typical commercial building uses more energy for lighting than anything else.
There is a new program out called WidgetBucks, which offers a new way for you to monetize your website or blogs. It's similar to Google Adsense, but it's based in impressions.
They have a $25 sign up bonus, and a referral program, where you can earn a 10% commission for 12 months on people you refer. Not bad.
I just placed the WidgetBucks ad on my Ning community at http://www.PetBoogaloo.ning.com . I must say that I like the ads it serves up. I think the ads are actually relatively entertaining to watch. (Google Adsense is boring in comparison).
It seems that they serve up ads mainly in the computer, electronics, video, and camera type of niches. I was lucky that they had an option for the pet market.
I have several other sites where I'd would have liked to add WidgetBucks, but their other ad categories don't fit my markets.
From their control panel, you can select the category of ads you want, or you can have their spider crawl your site and decide what kind of ads to serve up. I'm not sure their spider is as robust as the Google spiders, where the ads are really tied to the content. I tried it on my toy site, but the camera ads kept showing up, so I decided to just keep Adsense on that for now. There may have just been a delay factor there. I don't know.
Other news facts:
Automated, scalable ad units complement other networks such as Google AdSense and Yahoo! Publisher Network
Product offers from 30,000 merchants, including top brands such as Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, NewEgg, Macy's and Gap
Publishers and bloggers earn money every time consumers click WidgetBucks ad content on their sites and are linked to a merchant's offer
MerchSense automatically matches products with editorial content, meaning consumers receive more engaging, meaningful and relevant ads
Flash-based widgets, presented in part as top 10 lists, cover 100 different categories, 300+ configurations and buying trends of 100 million online shoppers
Constant monitoring auto-optimizes widget rotation based on success rate
For a limited time, publishers and bloggers receive a $25 sign-up bonus
Mpire, the company offering WidgetBucks, was founded in 2005. Mpire is backed by Ignition Partners and former eBay executive Richard Rock.
Sep. 12, 2007 - Online networking vs. Offline Networking
Is the online networking you do really so different from good old fashioned
networking? Sure, we may use words like ‘social media’, or ‘blogging’, or
‘online communities’, but I think after reading this article, you’ll find that
online networking is really just dad’s Oldsmobile with a paint job.
I decided to interview networking expert Chuck Cory, to get a good
understanding on how to effectively network offline (meaning in person), to see
what the similarities were. I’ve known Chuck for many years, and I would
consider him to be a master networker. Chuck is an entrepreneur, and on the side
he runs a popular breakfast business networking event in Denver called NewBCI.
Let’s see what Chuck has to say about networking.
INTERVIEW EXCERPTS:
Rita:What does the word networking mean
to you?
Chuck:Networking, specifically B2B
networking to me is a business marketing tool that can be used to build business
relationships no matter how many people are present, regardless of the scenario
and with various levels of complexity depending upon the circumstances, the
culture and the environment in which the networker is marketing.
It means the opportunity to meet new business people and explore the
possibilities for mutual satisfaction. By opportunities, I mean the building of
a relationship that can result in a sale (which is what most people think that
networking is all about), or creating a mutual referral source, or creating an
asset.
The sale aspect is fairly clear cut and when people treat a networking
opportunity as just a "sales lead", they are missing a lot of opportunities.
Building solid referral sources and mutual win-win situations takes time and
work.
An asset can be a product, service or individual that acts as a resource
in one way or the other. My lawyer, my CPA, my Banker are all knowledge assets;
but my Banker is also a monetary source, and hence an asset.
Rita:What has networking done for your
business?
Chuck: Since the facilitation of networking
events in one of my major tasks, networking has expanded my business beyond
belief. Even if there are only 50 – 60 individuals at an event, each individual
there has their own contacts. This has caused my business to expand beyond my
capacity to handle it.
By applying the principles of referral networking, New Business Connections
(NewBCI) has grown as have my other endeavors. There are a lot of people for
instance that are sending people to a NewBCI Breakfast event that I have not
talked to for a long time – or for that matter even know.
Rita:Why is it important that people go
out and network for their business?
Chuck:Personal contact – plain and
simple.Networking should lead to personal contact at the local level, and with
the sophisticated tools we have today (including video websites) virtual
personal contacts are possible, but it is not the same as human interaction.
Humanitizing the business contact is becoming more and more important as
more and more people use technology to conduct their business. Pressing the
flesh (offline community activity) may seem less efficient than online community
involvement, but it is generally more effective for a lot of people. Online
perceptions about an individual can be completely reversed once you meet someone
in person.
Personal contact is also still necessary for the human psyche. While
transactions can be started, processed and completed completely online – human
interaction is the best way to start and maintain a business relationship. At
least in my opinion.
Rita:How is offline networking similar
to online networking?
Chuck:I define offline networking as
those networking activities that do not occur on the Internet, from Chambers of
Commerce, to business exchange leads groups, to BNI, NewBCI or One Business
Connections for example. Online communities consist of Ryze, Linkedin, Fastpitch
and others. Wikepdia has a tremendous list: List of social networking websites.
Doing a wikepdia search on Online_communities will reveal a well organized
virtual list of online communities.
To answer your question, in the beginning, you do not know who you are
dealing with. Through either kind of networking, you are gathering perceptions,
facts, and nuances about each other.
In either case, you need to know what you are going to do before you get
to the networking event or online community. Preparation is key, and your goals
should be reviewed before each activity.
I’m sure you see people who go out with the intention of networking all
the time, who ultimately do a terrible job of it.
Rita: Give us some examples of what you
commonly see out there.
Chuck:There are more examples of bad
networking than of good – and the definition of bad is mainly in the eye of the
beholder. If your intent is to use networking to gather a lot of sales leads and
then use a systematic follow up plan (one that had been thought out before the
event), then that may just be your style. I disagree with this style, but if it
is handled in a professional manner and permission to follow up is obtained, it
may work for some. This style is used more by people who do not know how to
effectively network and build business relationships. We have all seen the
impatient business card stuffer – the one whose eyes shift constantly, business
card at the ready, only paying attention when they think they are registering a
"pain" point, so they can show you how they can "solve" your problem. They then
ask only superficial questions and then launch into a elevator pitch right out
of the can to "convince" you that they have a solution for all your
ills.
There are the more sophisticated, skillful bad networkers who get you
excited about how they can help you at the beginning of your conversation with
them, but upon being queried as to how they can "actually" help – end up selling
you their product or service – or worse yet will only buy from you if you buy
from them. Then they will build a "relationship" with you. This group is worse
than the first because they give business relationships, networking and referral
based marketing a bad name.
Rita:What do you think they should be
doing differently?
Chuck:LISTENING! Genuinely caring about
the other person – building a relationship – or not. You may not be able to
connect with the other person at any level and you need to develop the skill to
know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. Throwing good time after bad time is
a waste of time. Disengaging politely takes experience and patience.
Rita:Explain the concept of Pay it
Forward
Chuck:Pay it forward or paying it
forward refers to repaying the good deeds one has received by doing good things
for other unrelated people.
In Ryan Hyde's book and movie it is described as an obligation to do three
good deeds for others in repayment of a good deed that one receives, and that
such good deeds should be things that the person cannot accomplish on their own.
In this way, the need to help each other can spread exponentially through
society, creating a social movement with the hopes of making the world a better
place.
It is also sometimes described as being "good for a favor", meaning a
willingness to help others (even strangers) on the expectation that it will all
come back around in the end.
When I talked to you in the past, having not studied this book, seen the
movie or read the hype, I meant that my "pay it forward" philosophy was based on
a couple of philosophies. One, that "what goes around comes around" IF YOU JUST
DO GOOD THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE, GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU! If you do to
others what you would have them do to you, your life will be more fulfilling. My
philosophy does is not or was not based on others doing something good for me. I
have a lot of people to "pay back"; however, since that is not possible in all
cases, you could say I was paying back by paying forward all the time.
Rita:So to sum up, what are the top 5
tips you would give a new networker.
Chuck:
Have a plan, set goals, be specific but flexible, before each networking
event. How many people will you try to listen to? Who are you looking to partner
with, etc. Networking is work – it should be fun – but it is work!
Buy Bob Burg's "Endless Referral" book, or better yet get his CD Set
"Endless Referrals" and learn how to work a room. Or any other "networking
Gurus" plan on how to work a room. Practice this before hand and modify it to
meet your needs, but don’t just go to an event, spread your cards and pray. Find
the centers of influence, learn how to approach them, maximize your time.
Listen, listen, listen – find opportunities for others and they will find
them for you. Show a genuine interest in the other person. If, for some reason
something about them turns you off, move on, graciously to be sure, but move
on.
Be yourself – learn from experience – and watch what others do.
Speak slowly, distinctly and passionately about what you do.
I found the interview with Chuck to be fascinating, in that online networking
is actually very similar to offline networking. The thoughts that came to mind
for me were:
The purpose of networking both online and offline are basically the same for
most business people. The goal is to develop contacts to build mutually
beneficial relationships.
I fully agree with Chuck in that we need to humanitize relationships,
whether they are created online or offline. If you meet someone online that you
really want to network with, get to know that person, listen, and be genuine.
When Chuck talked about the systemized approach to following up on leads (
autoresponders, bulk emails, etc.), I thought about how we really need to
further define online ‘networking’, as it is not the same as online ‘marketing’.
Online networking is about building mutually beneficial relationships. Online
marketing is more about the sales process. I’m sure many of you are on emails
lists, and receiving daily or weekly emails from marketers that add a personal
‘flair’ to their message. It might sound personal, but it’s typically a one way
street. That marketer does not even know who you are. He knows nothing about
you, other than that you may be a potential client. You are part of a list. It’s
not networking. They are not going to make a personal introduction for you to
their network.
It’s important to have a plan when you network online too. Which online
social networks should you network in? Who do you want to meet? Who are the
centers of influence?
When Chuck mentioned some examples of bad networking, such as the person
spewing out that elevator pitch and passing business cards to every person they
see, I immediately thought of those folks who try to spam online communities.
When you see a post of "This is my product, please buy from me," it is pretty
unattractive. It will turn people off. Instead, it might be better to provide
helpful information, and attract people to you instead through your signature
and tagline. You want to stay on topic to other people’s discussions, and
comment in a way that adds value to their conversation.
I love the pay it forward concept. It works online too. Look for
opportunities to help other people. Things come back around in their own way.
Whether networking online or offline, good networking comes down to building
mutually beneficial relationships. It’s all about listening, learning, and being
genuine.
Club Penguin is a social networking site that is for kids 6-14 years of age. My 7 year old really enjoys the games on the site.
Club Penguin has 12 million registered users and 700,000 paying subscribers.
Disney just purchased Club Penguin for $350 million. I think it was a great move on Disney's part. It's going to be a wonderful way for Disney to promote movies and other products, much like Fox's strategy when they bought MySpace several years ago.
Jun. 20, 2007 - China and online social networking
I find it interesting, that China has such a high % of the population that is accessing user generated content.
In fact, 62% of respondents in China said they had watched or downloaded online user-generated video content in October 2006, compared with 43% in the US (the second-ranked country in the survey) and 26% in Japan (the last-ranked).
Chinese Web 2.0 entrepreneur Eric Feng, founder of Beijing-based streaming video startup Mojiti, told Business Week, that he attributes it to "pent-up energy. [People] want to express themselves, but they have so few outlets to do it".
Online ad spending revenues totaled $16.8 billion in 2006, up from $12.5 billion in 2005.
eMarketer benchmarks its own online ad spending estimates against IAB/PwC data. The full-year actual total surpassed eMarketer's 2006 estimate of $16.4 billion by $400 million.
"It's been a long time since any medium had three years in a row of 30%-plus ad spending increases," notes eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman. "With a 34% gain in 2006, as the new research from IAB/PwC shows, the Internet now matches cable TV from 1983 to 1985 and broadcast TV from 1952 to 1954 for such strong, long-term spending increases."
Mr. Hallerman added, "Such comparisons to TV advertising are apropos, since online video grabbed everyone's attention in the past year."
The growth is not stopping, either, although it is expected to slow. eMarketer estimates that online ad spending will reach $36.5 billion in 2011. That is 13% more than the estimated 2010 total of $32.3 billion.
Looking at those sources that provide several years' worth of projections, the similarity in the expected trend in online ad spending is apparent, even when the absolute levels vary. A consensus around reduced but still robust growth is very clear.
At varying points over the next three years, Forrester Research, JupiterResearch, Oppenheimer, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Borrell Associates actually see positive growth slipping into the single digits for the first time since the dawn of Internet advertising in the 1990s.
eMarketer's estimates are more optimistic for three reasons. One, even if the overall economy shows weakness, the increasing audience time spent online and the need for advertising to match that audience will mean shifts away from other media, most notably newspapers and radio. Two, the greater targeting and tracking of advertising online, relative to other media, make spending there far more justifiable in a soft economy. Three, as formats such as online video advertising become more widely used, large brand marketers who have up to now only dipped their toes online will devote increasingly greater budget shares to the Internet.
Mar. 6, 2007 - Daylight savings time and your computer
It's daylight savings time this weekend, and it is coming 3 weeks earlier. Your computer will most likely need a patch - if you have your Outlook calendar tied to it, or if you run programs that are related to the time of day. These programs may not sync up
as they are supposed to do.
As discussed in the article Time Change a ‘Mini-Y2K’ , in a business world that is increasingly computerized and networked, there could be effects on everything from programmed stock trading to just-in-time manufacturing to meeting schedules.
National hotel chains often automated their wake-up call services in one or two data centers. Having wake-up calls made an hour late for a couple of weeks would certainly tarnish a hotel’s reputation for customer service.
For consumers, the greatest potential impact will be on e-mail and calendar programs like Microsoft Outlook, used to schedule dentist visits, soccer practices, evening entertainment and other appointments.
The latest Windows operating system, Vista, is not affected, and for those running Windows XP Service Pack 2, online software updates have been pushed out automatically to correct the problem. Microsoft and Apple are also making software patches and instructions available on their Web sites.
Here are instructions from the Microsoft on how to install this patch
These are the guidelines they shared in the article:
Straight commission paid only after money has been received. This would be 40 to 50 percent of sales.
Straight commissions paid immediately, with no accountability for collections. The commission would be 25 to 30 percent of sales.
Base plus commission and expenses. The salesperson is guaranteed a subsistence-level base pay for working 40 hours as well as a stipend to cover his gas, vehicle maintenance and insurance. In such cases, the sales commission would likely be 8 to 15 percent on gross sales above an amount that is roughly double the monthly base pay and stipend.
Base plus commission. The salesperson is guaranteed a less than subsistence-level base pay, but given no expense money. In such cases, the sales commission would likely be 15 to 20 percent on gross sales above an amount that is roughly double the monthly base pay.
Jan. 31, 2007 - Online Ad Spending Projected to Grow by Nearly 20% - but Pay Per Click to go down
An interesting new report just came in from eMarketer . Online advertising is increasing,
but less people are choosing to go with a Pay Per Click option, due to click fraud.
The most popular PPC program right now is Google. My guess is that it is a high
priority for Google to reduce click fraud.
Here's the article:
Some losers, and a winner.
A survey of advertisers who control $6.5 billion in spending projects that the print and broadcast shares of US ad budgets will continue to decline in 2007, while the online ad share grows.
The "Annual Ad Spending Study 2007," from Outsell, shows that US companies plan to increase their online spending by 18% this year, more than for any other major media type.
Looking at the numbers a little closer reveals that advertisers plan to raise search engine advertising by 39%, the greatest increase of any online media method.
The survey also uncovered some troubling news for online ad sellers, however.
The pay-per-click (PPC) share of online ad spending is expected to fall slightly in 2007, by approximately 1%, but that is only an indication of a deeper problem.
Click fraud concerns are the driver in the PPC drop in share.
In fact, the survey indicates that 49% of advertisers have reduced or plan to reduce their PPC spending because of click fraud, up from 37% in spring 2006.
makes sense for businesses to do charitable giving.
The results of this year’s Cone Holiday Trend Tracker, now in its ninth year, indicate that consumers are looking to Corporate America to provide opportunities that help them do good.
I plan to do the following this holiday season to support a cause:
Purchase a product in which a percentage of the price is donated to a cause. 2006...57% 2005...55%
Buy from a retailer that supports a cause. 2006...59% 2005...52%
“More than six-out-of-ten shoppers said that they are likely to consider a company’s reputation for supporting causes when purchasing gifts this holiday season,” noted Julia Hobbs Kivistik, Executive Vice President, Cause Branding, Cone Inc. “Survey findings underscore the importance of business involvement in causes.” Added Kivistik, “Companies can leverage this season of giving, and attract the attention of busy holiday shoppers, if they offer consumers an easy and affordable way to engage in charitable giving.”
- First 8 characters of the From address are digits - Subject contains "advertisement" or "adv" - Body contains "money back" - Body contains "cards accepted" - Body contains "spam removal instructions" - Body contains "extra income" - Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "$" - Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "free" - Body contains ",000" AND Body contains "!!" AND Body contains "$" - Body contains "Dear friend" - Body contains "for free?" - Body contains "for free!" - Body contains "Guarantee" AND Body contains "satisfaction" OR "absolute" - Body contains "more info" AND Body contains "visit " AND Body contains "$" - Body contains "SPECIAL PROMOTION" - Body contains "one-time mail" - Subject contains "$$" - Body contains "$$$" - Body contains "order today" - Body contains "order now!" - Body contains "money-back guarantee" - Body contains "100% satisfied" - To address contains "friend@" - To address contains "public@" - To address contains "success@" - From address contains "sales@" - From address contains "success." - From address contains "success@" - From address contains "mail@" - From address contains "@public" - From address contains "@savvy" - From address contains "profits@" - From address contains "hello@" - Body address contains " mlm" - Body address contains "@mlm" - Body address contains "///////////////" - Body contains "check or money order" - Body contains "click here" or "click below" (try using "visit here" instead)
These are eMarketer's 10 Key Predictions for 2007 for online advertising:
What to watch for in 2007....
Online Ad Spending Will Hit $20 Billion
Some Money and Lots of Hype for Online Video Advertising
Social Networks Are Set for a $1 Billion Windfall
Downloadable Games Will Get Hotter
Thirty-Seven Million Strong: A 'Minority' Bigger than Canada
Mobile TV Arrives
US B2C E-Commerce Will Cruise Past $200 Billion
The Retail Power of Word-of-Mouth
Broadband Services Will Matter as Much as Speed
DVRs Pump Up TV Viewing
Online Ad Spending Total US spending on Internet advertising will reach at least $19.5 billion in 2007. This is 19% more than total spending in 2006. This rate of growth is sharply down from the 30% or more that has been the norm for several years. However, even this reduced level of year-on-year growth would be considered spectacular for most industries. With total US advertising spending projected to grow by a mere 1.4% in 2007, the shift to the Internet is clearly set to maintain its heady momentum in 2007.
Online Video Advertising Internet video advertising will get more media play than dollars in 2007. eMarketer projects that spending on this format will total $775 million in 2007. To put this figure in perspective, remember that it represents only 4.0% of projected US online ad spending. Although marketers are increasingly keen on including video in their online ad campaigns, they will continue to face a shortage of appropriate premium placements.
Social Networks Worldwide ad spending on online social networks should top $1 billion in 2007, up from an estimated $445 million this year. Fueling this growth will be factors such as international expansion, "niche" networks and Google's deal to supply search technology to MySpace.
Video Game Downloads Digital downloading of video games will take off in 2007, and by 2010 this distribution method will account for 22% of all worldwide game software revenues. Besides online stores pushing the new generation of games consoles, look for Time Warner's GameTap service to position itself as the HBO of PC gaming, focusing on original content to drive its subscription service. Video-on-demand (VOD) marketers may find their skills in demand for promoting these platforms, which play on subscriber taste for instant gratification via download.
Hispanic and African-American Internet Users The number of African-American and Hispanic Internet users in the US will rise to 37 million, from 35 million in 2006. This market will continue to grow faster than the total US online population for several more years, giving advertisers with the imagination to reach out to them fresh opportunities. (The population of Canada is 33 million.)
Mobile TV Mobile TV took its first baby steps in 2006 with professional content. The World Cup offered a first glimpse of what the broadcasting future for mobile might look like, and in 2007 another crucial element will be added to the mobile-TV mix — user-generated content (CGC). Given the impact the Web equivalent of this development has had in 2006, advertisers and marketers are likely to face a dizzying array of new choices.
US B2C E-Commerce US B2C online sales will comfortably pass the $200 billion mark in 2007, reaching a new record total, which eMarketer projects will be $223 billion. Online retail sales will account for $132 billion of this, with online travel accounting for $91 billion. Some of the impetus for this growth will come from existing online buyers increasing their spending. A significant force driving online travel sales is the demand from travel-loving and relatively affluent baby boomers.
Word-of-Mouth The influence of consumer generated content (CGC) on US consumers' purchase decisions will continue to grow in 2007. A recent study from market research firm Compete found that consumers were more likely to be swayed by CGC than by information coming directly from brand advertisers and marketers.
Broadband Services When broadband emerged, it was distinguished from dial-up by its always-on nature and the greater bandwidth available to users. These characteristics were seen as reason enough to trade up from dial-up. Now, however, broadband is about value-added services and is driven by providers bundling voice, video and data together. Services such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are approaching the 30% penetration range. eMarketer predicts that one in four broadband households in 2007 will subscribe to a VoIP service, rising to nearly 40% of broadband households by 2010.
DVRs and TV Viewing The alarmist claims that digital video recorders (DVRs) and video-on-demand (VOD) would cause the death of TV and the loss of billions of dollars worth of advertising dollars are increasingly looking just plain wrong. TV distribution and access are changing and audiences are increasingly fragmented. However, every challenge presents an opportunity. More people will watch more TV and video content in the future, not less. They will just be doing so in different ways — via the TV, the Internet, the PC and their portable devices. eMarketer predicts that VOD will be in 30% of US TV households by the end of 2007 and that DVRs will be in 30% of TV households by 2009.
Nov. 8, 2006 - Is Santa going to deliver your pet a special award this holiday season?
If you are figuring out what to give your family pet this holiday season, consider creating a special award certificate for your pet, which you can now easily do online at PetBoogaloo.com PetBoogaloo is offering a free tool this holiday season, in which you can create a customized official looking award for your pet online, which you can then print from your computer.You can create it in minutes.
PetBoogaloo’s award certificate tool is very easy to use.You simply go online, type in your pet’s name, your name, the person who is awarding the certificate, and the award that your pet is being acknowledged for.You can even add your pet’s photo to the certificate.This tool is web-based, so you can do it from most any computer. PetBoogaloo also offers different templates, so you can choose the look of your award. You can use your imagination and even let your kids have fun with it.
You can frame this award and hang it on your wall, put it on a scrapbook page, set it under the Christmas tree, or send it to someone special.
In this landmark study, "The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance to Gender Equity," Catalyst examined the financial performance of 353 companies between 1996-2000. It found that the companies with the highest representation of women in their senior management teams had a 35 percent higher Return on Equity -- a key measure of profitability -- and a 34 percent higher Total Return to Shareholders -- capital gains plus dividends -- than companies with the lowest representation of women at the senior level.
91% of mothers prefer to purchase brands that other moms have recommended.
70 percent of mothers say advertising doesn't seem to focus on moms
30 percent say they see ads that offend them
According to the research most moms (up to 95%) go online at least once each day. Most mothers rely on the web for parental guidance and advice (88%), shop online (86%) and have clicked on an online ad (85%).
Mothers account for over half of consumer electronics spending (55%), food (51%), health and beauty aids (49%), home furnishings (48%) and clothing (47%).
They reviewed 612 emails sent by 400 different companies.
Here are some of their findings:
Of the e-mails sent, 27% were opened — with no significant difference between B2B and B2C e-mails.
Messages that included the company name or brand in the subject line had significantly higher open rates — as much as a 12-point increase
Silverpop found that B2B e-mail messages that were mostly text or had an equal amount of text and images generated higher click-through rates than image-heavy e-mails
Silverpop classified messages into seven different format categories
One column
Two or more columns of equal size
Two or more columns of varied size
Letter
Newsletter
Varied cell blocks
Postcard
The data clearly showed that consumers prefer the postcard format, and businesses prefer the newsletter format.
Oct. 16, 2006 - Petboogaloo Announces October's Hero of the Month, Janine Licare, co-founder of Kids Saving the Rainforest
Petboogaloo (www.petboogaloo.com) has chosen Janine Licare as their Hero of the Month for October 2006. Each month Petboogaloo honors someone who has made a difference in the world by their love and efforts to help animals and animal causes. Janine Licare is the co-founder of Kids Saving the Rainforest (www.kidssavingtherainforest.org) based in Costa Rica.
(PRWEB) October 15, 2006 -- Janine Licare and Kids Saving The Rainforest (KSTR) co-founder Aislin Livingstone began selling their artwork and using their earnings to help rehabilitate the rainforest at 9 years old. A year after they sold their first painted rocks in an effort to raise enough money to save the rainforests and Titi monkeys of the Manuel Antonio area, they opened the KSTR store to sell their artwork as well as local artists work to benefit their cause. KSTR receives 100% of the profits from all of the sales both in the store and from their website.
Janine Licare, now 17 years old, heads up KSTR's cause. She is involved in every aspect of saving the rainforests, including reforestation of the rainforests and teaching the children's workshops. The reforestation program focuses on extending the monkey corridor, which is crucial to the survival of the endangered squirrel monkey (Titi Monkey.) The trees selected for reforestation are native to the Manuel Antonio area and are in danger of extinction, just like the monkeys they provide shelter and food for. To date, the KSTR reforestation project has reforested pastures in the monkey corridor with over 5500 trees.
The children's workshops and camps focus around education, awareness and fun. These camps are available to local children as well as visiting children and adults who would like more information about the rainforests. During the camps the children learn about the rainforest and everything in it. The children also create artwork, some of which is sold in the KSTR store to help save the rainforest.
Since 1999, Kids Saving the Rainforest, a non-profit organization, has been dedicated to preserving the rainforest as well as the animals that reside within them. Recently KSTR has expanded their mission. In addition to raising money to help save the rainforests, Kids Saving the Rainforest focuses on heightening awareness of the importance of preserving the environment through education of younger generations. KSTR teaches workshops, preserves local rainforest land, rehabilitates baby animals and runs an Adopt a Tree program available for anyone in the world.
Petboogaloo salutes Janine Licare for her dedication to preserving one of the Earth's greatest treasures and the many creatures living within it. Her efforts and hard work to repopulate the Titi Monkey population and the environment in which they live have not gone unnoticed.
Those interested in the helping KSTR can visit their website for helpful information about the rainforests and the danger they're in or browse the many photo albums from children's camp or the animal rehabilitation galleries at www.kidssavingtherainforest.org
About PetBoogaloo PetBoogaloo is a cause-based social networking site for pet lovers. The idea is that pets generally bring out the best in people. As like-minded people from around the world share their experiences and feelings about their pet, and as more relationships are formed, the more peaceful our planet becomes. PetBoogaloo may be found online at www.petboogaloo.com.
Oct. 16, 2006 - Advertise on websites that are completely different than yours
Here's a new study from BizReport that came out today regarding online advertising,
and where to place your ads. I have to say, this really surprised me.
The study, conducted by Blue Lithium’s BL Labs, indicates that direct marketers will get better conversion results by advertising on sites that are different from what is being advertised. In other words, if you want to target hobby chefs advertising on a dating website, you may bring more purchasing shoppers than advertising on a cooking website will.
Ads seen in the same context as behavior have a higher click through rate, but ads viewed in a different context had a higher action through rate.
Oct. 13, 2006 - Most retailers have an email sign up form on website, but don't send an email in the first 30 days
Here is an interesting study that you can read at BizReport
In a survey of 355 retail websites, EmailDataSource.com found that managing and executing email signup programs can leave customers in the dark. And looking for a different online experience.
The report found that 92% of online retailers have a sign up form on their landing pages; however, more than 33% sent no email to signups within the first 30 days. Research shows that welcome messages and early contacts with signups are the best ways to build brand confidence. Don’t inundate users with emails, but an initial contact and short follow up can boost conversions.
Oct. 9, 2006 - YouTube and Google - a potential 1.6 billion dollar deal?
WOW! Big Bucks. I bet YouTube's investors are happy. YouTube has struggled financially, and has been surviving on venture capital. They never did have a good business model in place. That however is not impacting their valuation.
Internet search leader Google Inc. could announce a deal to buy the top online video service, YouTube Inc., as early as Monday, according to CNN Money.
Social networking and online video trends are hot... and they are still in their infancy.
ComScore found that in July over 106.5 million people, about three out of every five US Internet users, streamed or downloaded video during the month of July.
In total, nearly 7.2 billion videos were streamed or downloaded in the US, an average of 67 streams per streamer, which means that the typical video streamer viewed more than two streams per day.
InStat estimates the volume of views and downloads at these sites will surpass 65 billion by 2010, and at the same time revenues will exceed $850 million.
Advances in the cognitive sciences and more sophisticated brain imaging are giving us an increasingly rich and detailed view of the brain's functions. With these advances it is perhaps not surprising that marketers have jumped on the "brain bandwagon" to seek a neuroscientific explanation for why some brand or marketing campaigns work better than others.
The new field of neuromarketing apparently came of age two years ago after a study by Baylor College of Medicine was published in the respected academic journal Neuron. The study attempted to put to rest that age-old question: Which do you prefer, Coke or Pepsi?
The subjects in the experiment were given an anonymous taste test of each drink and their brain activity was scanned using a functional MRI (fMRI). The researchers were able to view, in real time, which parts of the brain "lit up." The subjects were then given the same drinks but with an image of a respective Coke can or Pepsi can visible to them. Their brains were scanned again.
The results were — you guessed it — "Coke is it." This is how the researchers expressed it: "For the anonymous task, we report a consistent neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that correlated with subjects' behavioral preferences for these beverages. In the brand-cued experiment, brand knowledge for one of the drinks (Coke) had a dramatic influence on expressed behavioral preferences and on the measured brain responses."
So what the researchers found was that the subjects had "stronger feelings" toward Coke, even though both Coke and Pepsi ranked equally well when measured purely on taste. The researchers surmise that there are two separate brain systems involved in generating preferences. When judgments are based solely on sensory information (taste in this case), relative activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicts people's preferences. However, cultural information (branding) can bias preference decisions through the dorsolateral region of the prefrontal cortex, with the hippocampus engaged to recall the associated information.
You are probably thinking, "Tell me something I don't know. I know marketing can influence behavior, that is why I do it." And you would be right, but to visualize this within the brain is new, and perhaps brings us a little closer to understanding the relationship between the mind and behavior.
New research just came in from eMarketer on Viral Marketing:
Viral marketing can be defined as a marketing technique that exploits a pre-existing social network to produce exponential brand awareness through a viral process similar to an epidemic. While that is something of a mouthful, a classic success story in viral marketing is Hotmail, which grew rapidly once e-mails from its users automatically generated an ad at the end of each message suggesting that the recipient sign up for the free service.
What eMarketer analysts are saying is that:
"More and more, marketers are loosening the reins on their brand imagery and are letting consumers do what they will with their assets. In some cases they're even providing them the raw materials to create ads on their own. This is the way advertising is going."
I'm an internet entrepreneur specializing in online marketing, online networking, and the power of communities. If you would like an experienced consultant to help you with your online strategies, please be sure to contact me.
