SEO, 1999(?) - 2010. RIP

Warren Buffet says that if you combine a business or industry with a poor reputation, and a management team with a good reputation, it is invariably the business' reputation that remains standing.

Chilling thought indeed for any good management team, and a good reason to very clearly think about your business model very often. Do you have a good business model? 

There are many business models that are questionable. One of them in particular is SEO. How to fool Google. If Google succeeds, then SEO's business model is stuffed. So if SEO simply optimises a website for organic search results, and disregards the actual relevance of the contents, then in the long term it will be doomed, as I am pretty sure Google will succeed. Below a blog posting by Robert Scoble on the same topic.

Scobleizer

16/12/09 6:32 PM

 Robert Scoble Web

The writing is on the wall. Small business marketing is moving away from focusing on SEO. Why do I say that? Because, well, Google and Bing are changing the rules so often and are getting so good at figuring out the real businesses that deserve to be on pages. Search Half Moon Bay Sushi and you get real answers from sites that didn’t focus on SEO. Yeah, there are exceptions, but they are increasingly getting rare.

With other searches, like one for Tiger Woods, you’ll get a page filled with stuff that SEO just doesn’t affect much anymore. In the middle of that page is a real time box that brings items from Twitter and Google News. It no longer is good enough to be just an SEO expert to get items onto pages like these. You’ve gotta be great at creating content that gets Google’s algorithms to trust it enough to shove it onto these new hybrid pages.

But there’s something deeper going on. Google has built systems that aren’t Page Rank controlled anymore and are giving far better analytics to small businesses than they did a year ago. They know a LOT more about your behavior now other than you clicked on a link, even to the extent that they know whether you called that business or bought something and THAT is changing the skills SEO/SEM types need to have.

No longer is it about optimizing search engine results and the new breed is going beyond just search engines to provide holistic systems that find and track customers not only on search engines like Google and Bing, but on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Yesterday I sat down with two of the guys behind a new company, coming in January, called “MyNextCustomer,” who already is working with about 50 small businesses and are getting much better results than more traditional “SEO/SEM only firms.”

Make no mistake, the two guys I sat down with, George Revutsky and Dustin Kittelson, who are co-founders of ROI.works, which is a search marketing firm, have been doing search engine and online marketing for a long time (since 1996 in George’s case) and they share their insights in this 30-minute conversations about what’s happening to small business online marketing.

I came away from this conversations thinking that SEO is getting dramatically less important and that SEM should be renamed to “OM” for “Online Marketing” since small businesses need to take a much more holistic approach to marketing than just worrying about search results.

Are you seeing the same trends in your business?

Posted via email from rogergrobler's posterous

A selection of cool Mac things to get yourself just after Christmas...

I have been reading through a bunch of "best of-" lists for Mac software. One of those things you only really get time for on holiday. I'm not planning to buy all of these. I will get some of them. Some of them I would get if they were for free. It is however quite a cool list. Here you go:

MondoMouse 

(): MondoMouse is a bit difficult to explain: It lets you move and resize windows, in any program, without having to grab a thin title bar or tiny resize handle. You just move the cursor over the window you want to modify, press your chosen modifier key(s), and then move the mouse; the window moves or resizes with the cursor. (Still not clear? Check out ourMacworld Video on MondoMouse.) It may not sound impressive, but once you’ve used it, you’ll never go back to clicking and dragging windows. $15; Atomic Bird.

Growl 

(): This behind-the-scenes utility provides a systemwide notification service used by many Mac programs and system add-ons. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, more and more of my favorite applications and services take adantage of Growl to provide notifications and updates—I can see when downloads and file transfers have finished, when new messages have arrived, when video conversions have completed, when my laptop’s power cable has been disconnected, and much more. An example of a great use of Growl notifications is HardwareGrowler, which informs you of hardware and network connections and disconnections. Free; Growl Developers.

My worry about Growl is slowing down my system. Any thoughts anyone?

RipIt 

(): It’s wrong to copy DVDs you don’t own, but there are plenty of legitimate reasons for ripping DVDs you’ve purchased. RipIt lets you rip those DVDs with a single click of the mouse; you can watch the resulting VIDEO_TS folder on your laptop using DVD Player or convert it to a format playable on your iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV. There’s no other Mac software out there that can handle as many different discs as RipIt—including the latest movies that can trip up utilities such as HandBrake and MacTheRipper. Like ClickToFlash, above, RipIt is also an Eddy winner. $20;The Little App Factory.

Planning to get this one... Had enough of little fingers destroying DVDs...

Mac mini

The first Mac minis, released back in 2005, were several things at once: credible low-price computers, supercompact, and an obvious attempt to lure Windows users over to the Mac side. Many of us became instant fans. But then Apple seemed to give up on the mini. The company released a few updates over the following two years, but the Mac mini line essentially stagnated. That led many admirers to wonder whether Apple’s smallest computer was headed for the dust bin, a cute but failed experiment.

Mac mini

Then in March 2009, a full 19 months since Apple had offered an update to the mini line, the company introduced its biggest Mac mini update ever (

) (Best Current Price): faster CPUs, more RAM, a new graphics chip, dual video outputs (including support for Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display), larger hard drives, FireWire 800, more USB ports, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1, and an 8X SuperDrive. In other words, nearly every feature of the mini was upgraded significantly, while the prices of the two models were unchanged.
And just seven months later, Apple updated the mini again (

) (Best Current Price), increasing processor speeds, adding still more RAM and (on the low-end model) switching to a larger hard drive. The mini is the forgotten Mac no more: You won’t find another name-brand computer with these specs in this small a package at these prices.
Apple didn’t just bring the Mac mini line up to speed. In October, the company also released a completely new configuration, the $999 Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server (

) (Best Current Price). It’s essentially the $799 mini with a second 500GB hard drive (it has no optical drive) and preloaded with Mac OS X Server (); that software normally costs $499 all by itself. It is a full-featured, unlimited-user server in a tiny, energy-sipping package that is ideal for small businesses, some homes, and the education market.
The past year proves that Apple does indeed care about the Mac mini and, in fact, is using it to push the compact-computer envelope. The mini isn’t for everyone; it’s the least-powerful Mac—laptop or desktop—that Apple offers. But it’s an extremely impressive machine for the size, and it's a good fit for both switchers and people on a budget. It also makes a great second Mac, and it’s an appealing option for a Mac-based media system. This year, we were glad to see that the Mac mini is still very much alive.—Dan Frakes
$599 to $999; Apple

I am a little annoyed I bought the AppleTV some time ago. Should've gotten a Mini...

MiFi 2200

At this point, Wi-Fi seems to be everywhere—in airports, cafes, hotels, and other public places where computer users collect. But there are still plenty of places where there’s nary a hotspot to be found. A few years ago, we started seeing a solution for such coldspots: 3G modems and routers, which let you get online from almost anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. That technology has been evolving; this year we saw one of the nicest developments yet: the MiFi 2200 (

).

MiFi 2200

Developed by Novatel Wireless and sold by several wireless carriers, the MiFi 2200 started popping up all over the place this year. One reason it seemed to catch on was its size: at 3.5 by 2.3 by .4 inches, it’s about as tiny as a bite-size chocolate bar, small enough to stash in your pocket.
The MiFi 2200 is also about as easy to use as a tech product can be: Press the power button on the top and it connects to your carrier’s cellular network. The SSID and password are on the bottom. You can share its access with up to five users at a time. Despite its size, the MiFi 2200 is a fully configurable Wi-Fi base station. Using its Web interface, you can give it a new SSID and password, limit access, adjust TCP/IP settings, and check on signal strength and battery life.
By making useful technology ultraportable, the MiFi 2200 became one of our favorite products of the year.—Dan Miller
$80; Verizon Wireless

This thing would be very useful to someone who needs it. I don't. Damn.

Canon Powershot SD780 IS

In the crowded point-and-shoot market, it’s hard to find a camera that’s very good at everything. But the PowerShot SD780 IS (

) (Best Current Price) is.

Canon Powershot SD780 IS

The 12-megapixel SD780 IS received some of the highest marks for image quality of any point-and-shoot that we reviewed in the past year. Its color accuracy and sharpness are both excellent, and it keeps the noise down in low-light and high-ISO shots. It also captures video at 720p HD resolution. At the same time, the SD780 is admirably easy to use, with intuitive, easy-to-navigate menus, and a nice 2.5-inch LCD. The camera’s optical viewfinder—a rarity in point-and-shoot cameras these days—makes it easier to frame shots in bright sunlight. And the camera is still small enough to carry with you everywhere.
Combine those features and that ease of use, and you've got our favorite point-and-shoot of the year.—Roman Loyola
$250; Canon USA

Too cool for school!

Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive

Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive

Many vendors offer networked home media servers. But only one of those products earned an Eddy this year: The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive (

) (Best Current Price). It did so by taking the best features of its competitors and packaging them in a single, easy-to-use device..
Like other media servers, the Iomega Home Media drive stores your music, videos, and photos in one place, where they’re accessible from any Mac or PC on your network. It has its own iTunes server, remote access capabilities, and support for Time Machine and BitTorrent.
Unlike some of its competitors, the Iomega Home Media drive is easy to set up and manage. It’s that last bit that makes it one of our favorite products of the year.—Chris Holt
$150 to $350; Iomega

Interesting alternative to Time Capsule for media backup.

Flip MinoHD

Flip MinoHD

In 2009, it seemed you couldn’t turn around without tripping over a new HD pocket camcorder. Kodak, Creative, Sanyo, and others all released some of these miniature moviemakers. But Pure Digital (now a part of Cisco) really defined the category, repeatedly releasing ever more capable models. Our favorite: the $230 Flip MinoHD () (Best Current Price).
While most pocket camcorders are studies in compromise, the MinoHD offers a great blend of features and performance. It’s easy to operate and solidly built, includes a bright 2-inch display, shoots up to two hours of 720p high-definition video, and includes an HDMI video port. It shoots well in low light and gets colors and tone right under most shooting conditions. Like the other Flips, the MinoHD includes the FlipShare software, which lets you jack the MinoHD into a powered USB 2.0 port, extract video, perform basic edits, and upload the results to your favorite video-sharing service.
In a crowded field, the Flip MinoHD clearly stands out.—Christopher Breen
$200 to $230; Flip Video

I want one...

Bamboo Fun

Tablets aren’t for everyone. But whether you’re a digital artist or just a regular user who’d like to use a pen instead of (or in conjunction with) a mouse, you should take a look at Wacom’sBamboo Fun tablet (

) (Best Current Price).
The Fun can serve as a giant multitouch touchpad: Press one finger to the tablet to move the cursor; press two to perform gestures. Its pen is unbeatable for graphics work. It offers 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity—invaluable for creating subtle effects in apps that support pressure sensitivity.
Put simply, the Bamboo Fun is one of the most innovative input devices we’ve come across in a while; it may be the nicest graphics tablet we’ve ever seen.—Jackie Dove
$199; Wacom

I have one. Not getting much use out of it though. One gripe: Touch area splits over both screens on a two monitor display. 

LaunchBar: 

Jason Snell put it best: “If I could have only one Mac utility, a solitary piece of software that I could use to improve using my Mac and all its programs as I went about my daily business, it would be Objective Development’s LaunchBar. When I use a Mac that doesn’t have LaunchBar running, I simply feel naked.”

Downloading this as we speak...

Mercury Mover: 

Among this add-on’s many features, the one I use the most is the capability to quickly restore windows to particular sizes and positions. For example, by pressing Mercury Mover’s keyboard shortcut followed by S, my Safari window is instantly placed in my favorite location with my favorite dimensions.

Planning to check this one out...

Bento 3

Bento 3

When FileMaker introduced Bento in 2008, the personal database application had just about everything a casual user could want for organizing data, from pre-assembled templates to dynamic access to Address Book, iCal, and Mail data. About the only flaw—and it was a doozy—involved Bento’s pricing: users who bought the original Bento 1 had to pay the full $49 price tag to upgrade to Bento 2. FileMaker took a lot of heat for that decision, but to its credit, the company listened to the critics. When Bento 3 () debuted this past fall, FileMaker offered a $20 rebate to all existing users.
But there’s more to this latest version than a reasonable upgrade policy. Bento 3 added iPhoto integration and the ability to share data with others on your local network—both welcome additions. With the addition to 128-bit AES encryption to secure that data, Bento continues to set the standard for personal database programs.—Philip Michaels
$49; FileMaker

Anyone using this? Looks cool enough to try...

Dropbox

These days, we all have files all over the place—our computers at work and home, desktops and laptops, Macs and PCs, and even iPhones. Keeping track of which files you’ve stored where and making sure you have the files you need when you need them can be a hassle. Dropboxsolves this problem by giving you access to files no matter where you are or what device you’re using.
Once you install the free Dropbox app on your Macs and PCs, you throw the files you want access to into your Dropbox folder. They’re then automatically synced to other machines on which you’ve installed the app; it’s also stored on Dropbox’s remote servers. So even if you’re on a friend’s computer, you can still log in to the Dropbox Website and get your files that way. The free Dropbox iPhone app gives you direct access from your phone.
Dropbox does more than sync files. It also keeps track of changed documents, so if you need an older version of a file from the last 30 days, you can get to it. Or, if you want to share a file with others, you can drop it in the Public folder; Control-click (or right click) on the file in the Finder, and you can copy a download URL for pasting in e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook. Dropbox also supports easy photo galleries: Just drop photos into the Photos folder.
In addition to all that, Dropbox is free to try. The trial account gives you 2GB of storage. Beyond that, it’s $10 a month for a 50GB account, $20 a month for 100GB. It’s one of those services that, once you use it, you wonder how you did without it.—Jason Snell
free to $20 per month; Dropbox

PDFPen 4.5

When it comes to modifying PDFs, SmileOnMyMac’s PDFPen 4.5 (

) fits neatly between OS X’s free Preview and Adobe’s $449 Acrobat Pro (). At only $50, it goes well beyond Preview’s PDF processing power, yet it offers some of the same features you’ll find in the much more costly Acrobat Pro.
It enables you to insert images, text boxes, comments, and links to other pages in the same document. You can also remove the background color from imported imported images (great for inserting your signature into documents), edit text, and draw almost any shape. PDFPen 4.5.2 adds an improved OCR engine, better scanner support in Mac OS X 10.6, and multicolored highlighting.

PDFPen may not be the most exciting product among this year’s Eddys, but it’s certainly one of the most useful.—Rob Griffiths
$50; SmileOnMyMac

Maybe this will allow me to use the Bamboo Tablet more...

Things 1.0.4
Everyone has things they need to get done. So the fact that there are scores of to-do-list programs for the Mac should come as no surprise. Some of these programs are simple but limited; others are very powerful but require hours of study just to get started. Of all the task-management programs we’ve seen, Things 1.0.4 () strikes the best balance between power and usability.

Things lets you define multiple to-do lists (which it calls projects). These lists can contain one-off, repeating, and scheduled tasks; the Projects view graphically displays your progress on each. There’s also a general inbox for uncategorized tasks, along with a unique Today view that includes items you’ve manually marked for completion today, as well as Project items that are due today. You can attach notes, links, and tags to individual tasks, and then search for that data; you can filter any view by tag, schedule, or both. The nice thing is that if you don’t want to use these features, you don’t have to. Things also has an excellent iPhone counterpart, the $10 Things app, which syncs with the Mac version.

Of course, everyone has specific needs and preferences that will steer them toward a particular to-do-list program or another. But Things’ combination of ease of use, great interface, and flexibility make it as close to the ideal Mac to-do app as we’ve seen.—Dan Frakes
$50; Cultured Code

I'm already using OmniFocus on all my computers plus iPhone. Great in concept and design. So-so in execution. Particularly the syncing is a bit finicky.


Original sources here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/145043/2009/12/gemsoftheyear.html#jump
http://www.macworld.com/article/144154/2009/11/gemsthanks.html
http://www.macworld.com/article/144949/2009/12/editorschoice2009.html

Posted via email from rogergrobler's posterous

Shock Advertising

Shock advertising is where a shocking image or story is used to convey a message, in a way that shocks the audience. There are very few commercial products or companies that use it, and by that fact alone one must deduce that it does not work particularly well. There are however sterling examples of shock advertising that worked exceptionally well. One good example is the anti-Meth campaign in Montana. Their website (www.montanameth.org) claims that meth use in Montana has dropped by 72% since the campaign started, and meth-related crime dropped by 62%. The TV ads are highly visual, and highly disturbing. 

Posted via email from rogergrobler's posterous

The art of brief emails

I get a lot of emails. Like in a lot of emails. I recently deleted about 5,500 emails, of which a large chunk was still unread. I've tried zero-inbox (thanks to Athur Alston), but not too successful to date. So the following blog was really good to read. It will be great if people are a lot more brief with their emails:

The art of brief emails:

It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn. ~Robert Southey

Emails, to some of us, are like a plague. They spread rapidly, infect you until you're covered in sores and can't do anything useful, and ultimately fill the streets with corpses.

OK, maybe emails aren't exactly like the plague.

But they can take up your entire day if you let them. Enter the art of brevity (not to be confused with this site).

Master the art of writing concise emails, and you communicate essential information without taking up much time - yours or the recipients' time. You also encourage the responder to be brief, with your own brevity. And by eliminating chatter, you also become a better writer.

Some tips for writing brief emails:

• Skip the subject line. Controversial, as many people believe the subject line is key for someone scanning their inbox. Personally, I look at the sender to determine if I'm going to read the email, and I can usually read the 1st line in Gmail, just from the inbox. So the subject line become irrelevant. Just skip straight to the message and forget meta data. The content is the meta data. If the recipient knows you, he'll open the email. Note: this is actually considered rude by some, so be aware of your recipient's expectations. With friends, family and close coworkers, skipping the subject line is fine. With more formal emails, you'll want a subject line, and you might not follow every single one of the following rules.


• Keep it to a few sentences. I've long been an advocate of the 5 sentences rule and in fact, if you can keep it to 2-3 sentences, that's even better. Setting a limit forces you to keep it brief - just like a haiku.


• Skip the greeting. Sure, polite etiquette dictates you have a greeting. But mostly we email friends or coworkers or family, and really, do they care about your greeting? Their time is valuable. Dive into the message.


• Skip the sig. I hate long signatures, especially for someone who I talk to regularly. I already know all your info - why keep sending it? Just sign off, as briefly as possible. My sig is usually: -leo, but if I really know the person I'll skip that as well.


• Narrow the topic. If you find yourself needing to write long emails, it's usually because you're trying to talk about too many things. This tends to lead to problems - the recipient might skip over certain parts, for example. Stick to one topic for now, and get to the point.


• Edit. I know, you want to write it and send it and forget it. Well, that's rude, to the recipient. You're saying they don't deserve a good email. I'm not saying you need to spend hours making every email perfect, but if you can take 10 seconds to go back over an email, remove unnecessary sentences and words, you'll be doing your recipient (and yourself) a favor.


• Consider not sending. Sometimes, an email is unnecessary. Before sending, or even before writing, consider whether they really need a 'thank you' or 'got it' or other such message. Sometimes it's fine, but if the person sends you a 'got it' email, do you need to reply back 'thank you'? Just move on.

If you know people who need to read this post, pls email it to them. Briefly.

If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought. ~Dennis Roth

XDR-TB

The Power of a Signature

Amnesty International has a cartoon campaign, using stark black and white imagery to portray suffering in the world, and how a signature can relieve that suffering. It is powerful stuff. It is simply yet starkly communicated.

The power of individuals to change the world.

Happiness is....

Real Insurance launched Pay As You Drive this week. If you're wondering what Pay As You Drive is all about, then Wikipedia to the rescue. The cool thing about Real Insurance's Pay As You Drive is that it does not require a black box. So no device being fitted to the car, and no-one watching over you. So it avoids the privacy concerns. It is also an interesting exercise in trust between a company and private individuals. The product should cause quite a bit of turmoil and interest. Will be good to watch!

I listened to an amazing TED talk the other day. It dealt with the new side to psychology: The psychology of happiness. Up to 10 years ago psychologists asked you what is wrong with you, and then they spent many hours trying to fix it, while you are lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. The new type of psychology today deals with happiness. In other words it studies what makes you happy and why. The intervention: How can the science make you happier? So how cool is that!

Here's the basic sources of happiness (pretty compelling stuff):

1. Pleasure. That is worldly pleasures like material possessions, a good meal, good wine, etc.
2. Good work. This the type of work where you get into the flow. Time stands still. It is typically something you do really well.
   
3. Meaningful work. This is doing something bigger than yourself. Doing something to benefit someone other than yourself.

No surprises: Number 1 does not give lasting happiness, only short term happiness. That's why rich people who don't have to work are so unhappy. This is an amazing discovery to be made by rich wives I think...

True happiness is if you experience both number 2 and 3. If you then add number 1 on top of that, it is like the proverbial cherry on top.

Three steps to happiness if you ask me...

So what do the psychologists do? They help you do all 3 better. For 1 it means savouring life. For 2 and 3 it means finding what you do really well, and then design your work around it in a way that benefits someone other than yourself. Quite biblical really.