add the web site address of the blog you visit (see interface below)
Then when you sign in to Bloglines each day (you can do that by simply clicking an icon that appears on your desktop) you can quickly visit the new posts of the sites you subscribe to.
Google's Official Blog - My Example
In the image below you can see that I'm signed into Bloglines. On the left is My Feeds. There's a list of all the blogs I subscribe to via Bloglines.
So what Bloglines does each day is run off to those sites and see if there is anything new. If there is, it lets me know by bolding the web site name and putting in brackets how many new posts there are.
If you can see it in the image below (down the left hand side), my feeds are for:
Bloglines News
Tailored Consulting
Official Google Blog
Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger
Original Thinking Home Business
etc
As you can see, Bloglines News is bolded and has (11) after it. That means I haven't read the last 11 posts they've put up.
What The Screen Says I'm Reading
But what the screen shows I'm reading is the latest posts/blogs on the Official Google Blog. I read it just by clicking on the link on the side. Easy. Convenient. Simple.
2 Year Anniversary - 2 Years Of Writing The SitePoint Tribune
2 Year Anniversary - 2 Years Of Writing The SitePoint Tribune
Happy anniversary to me!
It's been 2 years today since I started writing the SitePoint Tribune - a newsletter for web professionals that now has 135,000 subscribers.
SitePoint is one of the web's biggest and best resources for web developers and has been helping web developers since 1997.
With 108,000+ forum members it is widely considered to be among the best (if not the best) for web developers.
Who Would Have Thunked It!
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I'd be writing a newsletter for 135,000 subscribers, let alone a book that sells for $247 US. My old English teacher would be proud!
Probably the best thing for me in writing the Tribune is the fantastic feedback I get - I'll continue to try and write stuff that is informative and entertaining and is of interest.
Thanks to all those who read it. If you haven't subscribed yet and would like to take a look, check it out here.
Here's an Instant Message between Tina and I talking about some listener feedback regarding our podcast (Internet radio show):
================
Brendon: I got some good feedback from a listener:
"When driving the dynamic range is a little high. That is if loud enough to hear quiet speech, then it blows your ears when it gets loud (e.g. when you laugh) Perhaps Tina could compress the sound slightly, to reduce dynamic range"
christina.goodman: I already do compress the sound quite a bit your laugh is very loud
But i can make sure i add extra compression in the very loud parts
Brendon: I don't like to think of it as a loud laugh. I like to think of it as a "brand differentiation"!
christina.goodman: Your laugh is about as good for our brand differentiation as a car crash!! (poor listener probably almost drove off the road when he heard your screech/laugh/bray)
According to research group Forrester Research 20% of people ages 13 to 17 regularly read blogs. And the chances are they'll continue to embrace this style of content.
And according to Bridge Data (I'm referencing others here, I can't find 'Bridge Data' anywhere), 80% of podcasts are listened to on the computer.
All modesty aside (!!), I love how we provide access to our podcast at Tailored Podcast. You can just hit the play button or you can download it to your computer.
We did that because we just 'knew' that most people would listen to our little show straight on their computer.
About 18 years ago I wandered into an art gallery in a holiday town I was visiting. Amongst these hundreds of paintings I saw one across the room that immediately captivated me.
I just had to buy it. Then and there. There was no question. So I went over and saw that (unluckily!) it was not by some unknown artist selling his art work for not much, but it was by one of Australia's more famous artists.
After paying an arm and a leg I dragged that painting out of there and it hangs at home. I still love it.
Pro Hart, the artist of my painting, died this morning after a long illness. Vale Mr Hart.
I Nursed A Blind, Crippled, Sick Man.....And Then He Painted a $400,000 Painting A Few Weeks Later
As regular readers might know, I was a Nursing Sister/Clinical Nurse for 10 years after leaving school and training for 3 years.
Back in the 80's I cared for a legendary artist (he was revered amongst the entire art community as one of it's hugely influential figures) as he neared death. He was blind. Crippled. Incoherent.
He recovered a little, enough to go home, and left our little hospital. He lingered on for another two- (2) years before eventually dying a little before receiving a telegram from the Queen.
In That Period He Painted
And in that two- (2) years he painted quite a bit. And I know, because I saw his artwork from that time displayed in various galleries. I read about the huge prices being paid.
All because of a name.
It wasn't because of the art. Because the paintings of that time had a look of someone taking a paintroller to a canvas and rolling it across. Then the name: Misty Day or some such nonsense! It's Not About The Art, It's About The Story
Art, for the vast majority of people, isn't about the art.
It's about the story.
It's about the notion of owning a famous piece of artwork.
It's often about snob value.
It's The Same In Marketing
And it's the same in marketing. Seth Godin talks often and passionately about marketing being just stories we tell potential customers and the stories they tell themselves.
Seth posts too often and eloquently on the subject for me to direct you to just one. Check out his blog instead.
I probably bought the expensive painting of the famous artist in that holiday town all those years ago because I wanted the cache that came with it.
The story about the other guy - the old, blind artist - was probably for me the start of my marketing training.
It's about telling stories that your customers want to hear. And everything about your business tells a part of that story.
Is Pee Wee The Best Cowboy You've Ever Seen Or What?
Is Pee Wee The Best Cowboy You've Ever Seen Or What?
Assume Slow Cowboy Drawl: Hi y'all. I have this client ya see, and like my client sells.....well, he sells horse bits on the range.
Pee Wee is a natural - he's authentic and believable and trustworthy and nice.
Check out Pee Wee Stevenson talking about his new Pee Wee Horse Bit. It is, and I didn't direct it, (I just asked for a video of Pee Wee talking about why he invented the bit) absolutely brilliant.
The audio isn't the best, Pee Wee stumbles over some words.....but it all adds to the story of the bit. Wonderful stuff.
As regular readers know, I really try and avoid just stickking a link in a post and saying read this. But if you are at all interested in how you should design web sites (especially for oldies) then read this.
I needed to find an online casino web site for some research on the weekend. Because I never visit them I just visited the only one I've ever heard of - Golden Palace.
They're the guys that spend crazy money buying all sorts of crap;
But there's the thing. They're the only ones I know of. And their is an element of trust there from me because I'm thinking "If they have such a high profile, they must be secure/solid/trustworthy."
Crazy how the mind works.
Gotta go - I'm off to buy Paris Hilton's dog's poop!
2 Ways To Make More Sales From Pay Per Click Campaigns
2 Ways To Make More Sales From Pay Per Click Campaigns
Okay, we run a lot of Google AdWords campaigns. We know a bit about them.
Here are 2 very easy ways to increase your:
a) Click through rate (that is, getting more people to click on the ad)
b) Convert more visitors to sales once they get to your site.
Here's what you do.
1. You match up your ad with what the person is searching for. So if they're searching for 'new york city hotels' then your ad heading needs to be New York City Hotels.
See the example circled in red taken from a screen shot of Google AdWords results when I searched for 'new york city hotels'. It's been our experience that that ad will get almost double the visitors of the ads directly above or below it.
Convert More Visitors To Sales
This one is specific to pay per click advertising (and works with search engine optimization as well).
Create landing pages targeted to what the visitor searched for. So if I click on an ad after searching for 'cheap ugg boots' I should be taken directly to a page with a heading of Cheap Ugg Boots and page copy that then goes on to talk about cheap ugg boots and how I would benefit from buying from this company.
Don't Send Me To Your Home Page!
Don't send me to your generic home page! I gave you the absolute specifics on what I wanted - you'll increase your sales if you listen and give me what I want.
Don't hinder me by shuffling me off to a page that isn't relevant or is further away from the information I'm after.
That will increase your sales by a solid 30%+ in our experience.
Additional Data
Here's an article by Aaron Wall over at SEO Book (I review that book here). Some great data on landing pages affecting sales (the increase noted are even higher than I've had).
Hope that is of some interest.
(Edit: 25/03/06 4.25 pm - Should mention our GoogleAdWordsReview.com site I guess. This is where I review one of the world's leading Pay Per Click ebooks that teaches you stuff like the above.)
Regular reader of this blog, and a great blogger himself, Andrew Johnson of WebPublishingBlog, sent me through a link to his exclusive interview with Plentyoffish.com creator Markus Frind.
Markus makes $300,000 per month from contextual advertising on his free dating site. He runs the site with a little help from his wife. He has no employees.
It's late on a Friday night. I'm in the office after going home for dinner. My wife and kids are watching some inane TV show they like .
But I didn't want to relax. I wanted to come in an run some stats on some sites.
Oh my God. I'm a nerd!! When that happened I have no idea. Maybe I should go and get drunk, gamble and then see a strip show just to reassure myself I'm still a macho, dopey Australian bloke??!
Where was I?
Oh, yeah. The stats.
I've looked at 2 sites. One is an affiliate site of our. For every $1 I've spent on the site I've earned $8. That's in the first month.
An AdSense site makes $8 per day.
Both sites have had minimal work (I'd guess no more than 10 hours in total each).
Great Numbers
They're great numbers. I mean, with the one with the 800% ROI, if I spend $1,000 I make $8,000. If I spend $10,000 I make $80,000.
Sounds good.
And with the AdSense site. Let's see:
10 hours to make a site.
$8 a day income = $3,000 pa
Make 5 sites a week.
20 sites a month.
120 sites in 6 month.
120 sites x $8 per day = $960 per day. Profit.
Is It Scalable
The other question is, when I make 120 sites will I be able top maintain them at $8 per day?
Good question. Let's find out.
With the affiliate site, am I able to increase my spend to $10,000 per month (all on Pay Per Click Advertising) and still maintain that 800% Return On Investment?
"........it comes as no surprise that a recent study by eMarketer shows the total podcast audience to be 10 million strong and growing, with a prediction of 50 million by 2010!
According to the study, 3 million people are actively downloading 1+ podcasts a week, anticipating to hit the 15 million mark by 2010."
Podcasts are hitting the mainstream hard and fast and could/should be a component of many companies' marketing mix.
BTW, this is as good an opportunity as any to mention our latest podcast is ready for listening!
The friend commented "Oh, I thought he'd be wearing a tie."
We discussed wearing a tie at length and decided against it.
What do you think? Does wearing a tie increase credibility? Would it increase our sales on those sort of products? (We'll be testing later with me wearing a tie.)
I've been allocating 15 minutes a day to cleaning up my contact database of old contacts (I use ACT!).
Here's a tip: In your business name don't mention the word "Success" or "Millionaire".
It seems from my quick assessment that if you have either of those in your name you are more likely to fold up business (and be deleted from my database!) after a short period of time.
I have just checked the stats of some web sites that I have Google AdSense on. One little site makes a few $ per day.
Those few dollars per day come almost exclusively from people searching on MSN for a product I mention on the web site.
What If................
MSN is Google competitors. Google makes a huge % of its income from AdWords. What if MSN said, "Okay, lets penalise/ban every site from our search results that has Google AdWords/AdSense on it."
That could wipe out a big % (I"d guess 15%) of Google income instantly.
I think that would make Google (and lots of publishers like me) cry.
What's 'FAQ' mean? That's been, in my experience, a really, really common question from web site users. For better usability we should say Frequently Asked Questions.
In the past week I've seen 3 people go to Google and Yahoo and type in their web site address (www.whatever.com) to get to their own web site. Not everyone knows you use the address bar. Don't Need The http://
And when you do use the address bar to type in a site you don't need to type in the http://. Most of the time you don't even need the www.
For example, with this site you can just type in tailored.com.au and the address bar will automatically put the http://www. in front of it.
What I'm trying to say is that not everyone knows the stuff you do. Keep testing your web site, your marketing, your business strategies for best effect.
Google have just launched their keyword research tool so that it is accessible outside Google Adwords. Check it out here.
Because Google is the biggest search engine with the most data, this basically becomes the new standard for keyword research. And keyword research is one of the most critical (if not the most) parts of search engine optimization.
I've never really thought of legal action as a PR strategy before but after reading this story of a firm suing Google because they don't have the search engine rankings they'd like, and writing this a while back, I'm starting to think it could be an effective way to increase visitor numbers to a web site.
It's funny the things you learn when you do a few public speeches like I do.
Your standing there on the stage trying to be entertaining, amusing and informative. There are 200 people in front of you.
Most feeling fairly relaxed in the warm room. Some are taking notes, some are looking around, some are sitting way back in their chairs examing something on the other side of the room, others seem to be paying attention.
And then you spot them and it's like a wave of confidence washes over you.
The "them" I'm talking about is the listener (the person who really looks like they are listening).
I Was Soon the Centre Of Attention
On Wednesday night I went along to see my daughter Laura in her debating team. Because I know what it's like to be the one up the front with their knees knocking, their heart in their mouth and that same mouth feeling very, very dry, I also knew how to be a great listener.
How To Be A Great Listener
And here's how to be a great listener for the next speech you hear:
1. Lean forward 2. Have you head cocked to one side like you're trying to catch everything the person says 3. Look the speaker in the eye 4. Nod 5. Occasionally smile
You would be amazed at how much confidence you are giving the speaker.
I know I feel great if I see someone like that in the audience.
I know how much confidence they give me.
I did those 5 things on Wednesday night when the 6 kids got up to speak (for most of them it was the first time they'd spoken in public).
Within about 20 seconds I was the centre of every kid's focus when they got up to speak. I was the one they kept coming back to.
And it was because I looked like I was listening to interesting stuff. And that gave the speaker confidence.
"....I Knew What I Was Saying Must Have Been Okay."
After the debate the family went out for dinner (it was Laura's birthday on the same night). We were giving Laura some feedback when she said "I felt like I was doing really well because I saw Dad nodding. Then when you smiled at me Dad I knew what I was saying must have been okay."
Confidence is such an important thing for kids just starting out at speaking, and even for someone a bit more experienced like me. Give it a try at the next speech you're at and see what a positive impact you can have on the speaker.
A few weeks back they took the plunge and had an e-Bay auction for the first ad to be displayed on RocketBoom. The advertisers had to agree with RocketBoom's terms:
"We will work closely with the winner to make sure that their message will resonate with our viewers in a beneficial way for the winner. The bidder understands, however, that Rocketboom will have complete control over the commercials that we create."
I Think The Advertiser Might Regret Agreeing To That
I think the advertiser, TRM, might regret agreeing to that.
RocketBoom are showing the ad(s) in installments at the end of recent shows.
And let me tell you this: the ads are so bad that the only way I can see TRM getting any value from them is if the ads become famous for being so bad. And then are actually seen as being funny because they're so bad.
Heh, maybe that's been the aim all along and it's just me that doesn't get it?
But I think this is a great example of moving away from what you're good at and getting it wrong.
We've just developed another video e-book review for pay per click advertising. It's a review of a Google AdWords e-book and can be viewed here (or click on the image to the left).
Would love to have you feedback on this 7 min 32 second video.
Pay Per Click Advertising Now Targeting Demographics
Pay Per Click Advertising Now Targeting Demographics
Pay per click advertising is where you take ads on a search engine so that when people search for something, your ad appears in the results.
It's a fantastic way to market because the person is actively looking for your product or service at the time they see the ad. For a recent post on the growth of online advertising click here.
Searching For iPods
As you can see in the example below, numerous ads appear when you search for "ipods" in Google.com.
(Click the image to make it bigger)
You can also see here a few Australian specific stores - that's because Google has detected that my computer is in Australia and the advertisers have said to Google, "If anyone from Australia searches for ipods, show them our ad."
Demographically Targeted Ads
Google is currently testing out demographic drilling - that is, your ad will be shown to those you specify as your target market - such as 24-29 yo women.
This will only apply, for now, to sites with Google's Partner Network web sites, not within the actual search results. (MSN's demographic breakdown works by a cookie on the users computer and analysing their self-reported data.)
From Google: With the AdWords site tool, you can pick your preferences in up to three different demographic categories. The system will analyze your preferences and create a list of available Google Network sites that are popular with that audience.
Which means the advertiser can then select what sites the ads will display on. Note: This feature is only currently available in the US.
Pay Per Click advertising can be very effective if done right. Let us know if we can help.
Here in Australia the latest entrant into the domestic airline industry has failed (or is well on the way).
Ozjet said "Certainly the industry, the agents and so on, gave it enormous support before it started up (and) made us very confident. But unfortunately it didn't translate into that all-important 'bums on seats."
Obviously any business needs to do market research.
But it's not what people say they'll do, it's what they actually do.
I've seen that ring true on many, many occasions.
People tell you want you want to hear. Don't blindly believe them or you'll pay the price.
I Promise Not To Use The Word "Bloody"....Oooops, I Just Did
I Promise Not To Use The Word "Bloody"....Oooops, I Just Did
Here in Australia the media is in uproar because an ad developed by the Australian Tourism Office has not been allowed to be shown in the UK because it contains the word "bloody".
I should rephrase that - Here in Australia the media has pretended to be in uproar etc etc.
This TV advertisement was rejected because in the final scene the girl says "So where the bloody hell are you?"
Big Deal....But Let's Make A Fuss
So the media have got hold of the story and run it into the ground. I'd assume they're saying the same things in the UK.
The newspapers today are filled with indignant letters from outraged Australian's that the ad has been banned because of the use of the word "bloody".
And every single letter or news article on the issue has some pun using the word bloody.
But that's not my point (but couldn't these letter writers be just a little more creative!).
Easy To Generate Publicity
It's easy to generate publicity. The banning of this ad in 1 country because of the use of a not-very-offensive word was all it took to increase the viewing of the ad probably by 300%.
Simple and effective marketing.
You need your marketing to be a story. That is, people need to talk about your product or service.
Did The Ad Agency Or Client intentionally Get The Ad Banned?
I guess the question is "Did they develop the ad with the intention of getting it banned?"
Probably not. But I'd guess they developed the ad with the intention of it being controversial. The ad being banned is just a bonus.
One that they probably anticipated and an aspect they'd be delighted about. (Although you would think the ad agency knew the content restrictions on the ads they produce for the UK market and that they'd know it was a good chance to be banned.)
Everyone loves controversy. Running a controversial ad works because people want to see. Doing controversial things works because people are interested.
How Can You Be Controversial?
How can you be controversial? How can you gain coverage of your business? How can you make your business newsworthy?
The new site uses essentially the same wording and images, but with one difference: my face. Throughout most of the video you can see me talking (I'm sitting at my desk yapping away).
Now the old SEO Book review.com site has been successful for us. But this new site will, I'm sure, do far better at helping people to buy the excellent book because you can see my face.
It's Because People Can See My Face
And it's because of the same reasons I mentioned here - because people can see me and see what I'm like. And people will make judgments based on how I look.
Sure, some people mightn't like what they see, but I think it's better to provide information (such as the video of me) so they can be influenced (rather than like on the old site where they don't have the opportunity to assess me too much) some way.
I'll let you know how it goes.
BTW, the post below mentions that 70% of businesses now have broadband access. That's one of the reasons that we're using video on this review site - most people access the web from work and will have no trouble at all viewing the site.
Firefox is an Internet browser that has been developed over the past few years. Web developers love the browser for a whole range of reasons - not least of which is tabbed browsing.
And Christopher would know - "I sit on the board of the Mozilla Corporation. This is the wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, which was created a short while ago. Before the creation of MoCo, I sat on the board of the Mozilla Foundation (MoFo). I joined the MoCo board to bring a bit of history and perspective to the group."
Okay, this is apparently how Mozilla makes the money.
See the arrow pointing to the search field - I've labeled the arrow "Google search field" to make it easy :o)
Using The Google Search Field
If users of Firefox use that search field to search for items it automatically searches on Google. Then any Google ad that is clicked on from the search results means revenue for Google. And they apparently have a deal to share a healthy % of the revenue with Mozilla.
I say "apparently" because Christopher says further down in his blog post that "I also won’t comment on sources of that money, except to say that some of the assertions that I’ve seen in the comments are pretty far off, both in terms of numbers and sources."
Aside from the potential Google Adwords income, income would seem to be derived from simple affiliate deals with the likes of Amazon and eBay. If you click the drop down in the search box you get the option of searching:
Google promoted the downloading of Firefox with their Google Toolbar.
Let's Take A Look At That Again
Great free product
Built a very loyal (and vocal) following
Created a strong buzz regarding the product
Partnered with an industry leader for wider distribution
Actually pays others to distribute their free product (kind of)
AND, they now generate terrific revenues in a hassle free way, employ talented people doing work they obviously love and have made the Internet a better, safer and less stressful place for many.
Now that's a great little business and brilliant marketing.
Here's Why A Franchise Is Sometimes Worth The Money
Here's Why A Franchise Is Sometimes Worth The Money
When people buy a franchise they do so essentially to access the intellectual property and skills of the company.
For example, if you have no marketing experience it might make sense to get a franchise so you can use the marketing expertise of the parent company.
A Subway has just opened up about 100 metres from the office.
Last week a Subway employee called into every single local business in the area, introduced themselves and gave away free discount cards.
We've been in the offices here for 5 years and that is, from memory, the first time any local business has ever called in and introduced themselves and asked for business.
It's a simple fact that business is about people. The better you know someone the more likely you are to do business with them.
Man, It's Hot In Here The airconditioning here in the office coughed, spluttered and died 3 weeks ago. A quick call to the landlord had the airconditioning guys here within a few hours.
But 3 weeks later we still don't have airconditioning.
It's driving us bananas. We're rapidly wilting and evaporating into little puddles on the carpet. We have fans, cold drinks and open windows as the morning sun moves away, all to little effect.
But Here's The Thing
When we first moved into these offices 5 years ago, we didn't have airconditioning. And we didn't have airconditioning for 6 months.
For 6 months!
And we didn't complain once.
We Didn't Know What We Were Missing
You see, there was no expectation. We didn't know how much we need airconditioning. There was no expectation on our part.
The Only Thing I Can Think Of Is Sex
But now we do know what we're missing out on, we want it bad (I've been trying to think of a business analogy for this, but the only thing that springs to mind for "now we do know what we're missing out on, we want it bad" is sex. And that's probably the wrong thing to write on this blog.......ooooooooooooooooops!).
Okay, okay...... I've thought of a business analogy.
It's how you want your customers thinking. Not of sex. But of "Oh my goodness, now I know what the service/product is like, I want it bad."
And that means exceeding expectations.
Can you exceed wildly the expectations of your next 10 customers (the benefits are huge - repeat sales, positive word of mouth, a stronger brand, etc).
Internet's Ad Growth Hitting Old Media Internet advertising could achieve 60% growth in 2006 - which would make it 3 consecutive years it has achieved this stunning figure.
(Online advertising grew 60% in 2005 and 64% in 2004.)
Consulting Group Frost & Sullivan say net advertising will overtake magazines and radio by December this year.
And after my meetings in London last week with one of the world's biggest online advertisers, the accountability that online advertising provides is its incredible strength and is the reason the growth is:
70% of all businesses in Australia now use high-speed internet connections.
A report by communications analysts BuddeComm forecast the number of broadband internet users would be 4 million by the end of the year (and 6 million by 2009).
Adding Video To A Site - My Guess is A 200% Increase In Sales
Adding Video To A Site - My Guess is A 200% Increase In Sales
We're just about to add video to a client's resort web site. It's a promotional video introducing the resort manager, showing the rooms, facilities and location of the resort and providing simple instructions on booking.
It will be in the same style as this one:
Sales Will Increase 200%
My guess is that sales will increase 200% within a matter of weeks (3 at the most). You see, people want information. But more than that they want to connect personally with the resort
