In an article by blog extraordinaire, Steve Rubel, he lists that three current Internet careers will soon go the way of the dinosaur. The endangered dispositions are: Social Media Consultant Online Advertising Sales Digital Talent Agent It’s not so much that Mr. Rubel believes that there will be no use for these professions, however, he feels that those being recruited to manage these tasks will begin to be replaced by those who can simply incorporate the online aspect into a broader role covering all media. Maybe it’s my mortgage talking, but I’m not so sure that Mr. Rubel has thought this all the way through. The idea that companies would prefer to hire a media consultant, advertising salesman or talent agent (rather than a “social,” “online” or “digital” version of the three) doesn’t strike me as incorrect, but it does strike me as a bit myopic in terms of defining … Continue reading
Silly Rabbit, SortFix is for Kids
Photo courtesy jason shellen Kids’ Internet usage has always been a hotly studied topic. How familiar are children with navigating the Internet? How user-friendly are websites for the young ones? Can kids distinguish the difference between sponsored search results and organic search results? More interestingly how do kids use search engines to discover new information? The photo from this post comes from a story featured on Digg.com in which two kids made a poster for their dad after his last day working at Google. Unarguably, Google is the most powerful search engine on the web today, but to young googlers, its simplistic design and lack of visual appeal and interactivity are probably turn-offs. Since it’s very unlikely that young kids are familiar with complex search operands, what tools or methods are available for them to learn how to better refine their search queries? SortFix This is where SortFix.com comes in. … Continue reading
Advertising With A Twist
How will Sony bias legitimate honest advertisers vs. people running scams? I can’t even comprehend all the undertakings that Sony is going to have to deal with in order to make this simulation a place to both have healthy and fun interactions with people, and be a great ticket into the scene of network marketing. Continue reading
Two Headed Monsters
The waiting game continues for Microsoft as Yahoo! buys more time. As I’m sure you all know, Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to merge with Yahoo! on February 1, which was rejected. The deadline for Yahoo! to return to the negotiating table with Microsoft was March 14, which came and went as Yahoo! managed to postpone, for 10 days after their annual shareholder’s meeting, the replacement of the ten directors that rejected Microsoft’s offer. This annual shareholder’s meeting has not yet been scheduled and could be held as late as July 12, 2008. Microsoft proposed this merger with Yahoo! in the interest of Yahoo!’s shareholders. In his letter to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors, Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, stated: “the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers.” He also explained that “the market is increasingly dominated by … Continue reading
Performance Trumps Position
As an account manager here at Wpromote I get a number of questions regarding positioning. I have learned one thing; everyone wants to be number one. Number one positioning means that your ad comes up first in the sponsored listings, generally above the organic search results on the left. First position is great if you have a high enough budget to beat your competition for that keyword, if you have built search history with a highly ranked website, if you are bidding on uncompetitive terms, or if you are willing to take an initial loss. Is it true that position and volume often go hand and hand? Yes, however, the important thing to note is that although high positioning often correlates with high volume, it may not be the best way to measure the performance of the campaign. We optimize for performance. The goal of your PPC campaign is to … Continue reading
Rock, paper, amateur, pro.
Word on the web is professional content is back in vogue, and amateur content, specifically the half-hearted drivel riddled with misinformation, is out. Good riddance, I say. It’s not always easy to distinguish yourself from the crowd of professional and not so professional writers out there. It takes work, guts, insanely long hours, caffeine, research, creativity, and alcohol. Lots of it. Preferably 80 proof, well-aged, or imported. Lots of it. Finally, once you think you’ve made it – and as a writer, “made it” means something along the lines of not having to eat ramen noodles anymore, moving out of your parents house, and upgrading that 1986 Toyota Celica with the peeling paint that you’ve been driving around since your sophomore year in college to something a little nicer and more reliable – you soon realize there will always be someone younger, wiser, more hip, more experienced, or better informed … Continue reading