Posts by InsightsDigital

Guess what? I bought the netbook. Asus Eeeeasy netbook. I have a Sprint Mobile Card as well. So what is my experience? Well:
1. It is not as fast as my beloved MacBook Pro - but then again I am a hardcore Mac person. I think they are the best
2. I am typing this email from a Metro North train and I feel I am back in the time warp - the time when I used a 300 bps modem, sans the sound effect
3. I will use FireFox instead of IE which is driving me insane already.

I still think that virtual gifts will not replace a real gift. There is nothing better than getting an actual gift and being all happy with anticipation. :-)

Yup, Facebook not only uses the pokes but also the amount of emails you send to the "friend" using FB mail system. That is why you may have 300 friends but only see the feed for a selected few.

I was like your mom for some time and I then I realized that I was paying for a service that is just not necessary. I dont connect via dialup anymore. AOL does know this fact - the fact there is a small yet loyal base of older generation users who like AOLs easy to use interface, which is why you may see many of the banner ads on AOL cater to this target segment. I still use AOL - why? Though I have many other email accounts - My AOL email addresses are unique and I still have many people email me to those accounts.

As I glanced around touristy parts of NYC, I must have seen countless times visitors tweeting their pictures, posting on Facebook, and who knows what else other digital sharing they are doing to share their vacation experience. I think long gone are the days when people had a nice photo album - now its all digital and to be honest - I dont think it elicits the same emotional response. Just an observation.

Can anyone translate above? I wonder what the post is saying about social media and business cards. I think its Russian. Maybe if I google those keywords and russia I might find some interesting new technology about this. Who knows...

I have so may excel tables and I just want to make life easier organizing them. Thus, I have heard of Marin software. Have you heard of other software that can help? If you have used them, what was your experiences?

That is a good point. I was not aware that increased traffic helped SERPs as well. I knew it did pre-Google search engine days, like when I used Copernic and other small search engines. Thanks

The biggest difference between SEO and SEM is organic vs paid.
SEO = Search Engine Optimization
SEM = Search Engine Marketing

SEO = you can enhance SERP results by tweeking chances on your website
SEM = its all about paid marketings, PPC, banner ads, any paid drivers that help bring traffic to your website.

I encourage you to search on this forum and you will find a wealth of insights.

I am actually thinking of going to the local electronics store today and buy it. Why? Well, I dont want to walk around with my lovely MacBook Pro. I would rather walk around with a tiny netbook.

So AOL charges outside the US? AOL is free in the US. It used to cost and it quickly added up.

Facebook uses pokes to adjust their algorithms. Thus, the more you poke your friend, the more news you get on your friend. So my question for you is "Do you poke?"

http://www forbes.com/2009/10/26/twitter-facebook-costs-markets-faces-guidelines.html?partner=faces_newsletter

These pokes actually have a financial cost involved. Interesting.

Once upon a time, AOL was the king of online experience. Now, it might just be a tiny leftover kingdom. So I was not surprised when I read that membership is going down.
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-aol-revenue-2009-11?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SAI%20Chart%20Of%20The%20Day%2C%20Wednesday%2011%2F04%2F09
I used to use AOL and I still do. I thank God I dont pay 8 cents a minute anymore to use their search engine.
So do you use AOL? Why not or yes?

Thank you all for your great insights and recommendations.

Do it. Its a great experience!
I personally have created a few online communities and unless you have:
1. lots of creators
2. active members - who comment and view the posts
3. good user experience
The site may quickly wither.

So now I wonder, does the original poster still believe blogging is easy?

I think that it is best if the business just opted into automatic renewal. This way, this problem could have diverted.

Other than looking at the CTR, what are other factors or KPIs you look into to determine if your campaign was successful or not?

Im just curious. I constantly see my friends number going down by one or two every so often. I know that in Twitter - this is normal since Twitter is known to clean out spamming accounts. But what about Facebook? Have you ever met someone to get booted from Facebook?

I do believe social media will eventually be an incorporated digital aspect of our lives, just like people use search engines to start their search experiences. Back in 1992, I used telnet in a non GUI interface!

I appreciate all for the very insightful comments and recommendations.

I did ask, "what else" but all the responses are welcomed.

I sometimes go to WebTrends and due to time, I hope all the answers are there to digg, but we all know it takes some additional search engine investigational work to find the hidden gems.

I have lots of PPC campaigns to monitor and I am wondering what do other internet professionals recommend changes to the campaigns? I would say to monitor at least for 3 months but always keep a vigilant eye from month to month.

Yes, it may seem like a simple question, but I often run into this question among internet marketers. So I ask you the same question.

I have a client that is exploring launching co-promotion on content and online network sites - not only with rich media ads, but with push-polls, banner ads that include surveys, forum discussion, and a page with relevant content.

Thus, the goal of this campaign is to create multiple touch points visitors awareness. So if you helped a client launch similar projects, do share your comments and wisdom.

Thanks

I cant believe that the holiday season is already here, thus, very soon, we will see on TV and online, Predictions for 2010. So let's say our thread here - what do you predict for 2010 on Social Media. Let me start with mine:
1. I predict social media will have a stronger semantic angle to it.
2. Also, social media will be pushed further and further into daily living
3. the Laggards will be using social media now.

What do you think?

I learn something every day. For those lurkers out there, I would also add: Comscore, Forrester, and Nielsen, especially if you are into digital measurement.

Thanks. Definitely conversions as well as cost per click.

There are so many recommendations on SEO but my question is: How do you measure it? How do you know that your SEO tactics/optimization actually worked? I think one way is to track the amount of organic visitors before and after the refresh. What else do you measure or track?

Hi Jay, I never heard of Sphinn but I will definitely check it out. I am registered with over 500 internet marketing blogs and I just want to streamline to a handful. Thanks!

I actually just read on OMMA magazine that Facebook is one of the top ten places where visitors go to search for information.

Thank you all for your comments. I also believe that social media is shifting and the lines are blurring between personal and business, in which personal accounts are now serving a business purpose.

I totally agree with Marketing Rob. Content..Content.. And most of all content that visitors care about.

Blogging is easy..however...it is like a plant...you constantly have to nurture it - in this case, with relevant and valuable content, and cultivate a following, in order to really see results.

There are thousands of blogs and sources to learn about social media, but among this clutter, where are the best resources to learn and keep up about social media? I will start with Mashable, DaniWeb (of course), and eMarketer. Where else would you say?

Yes, almost every single business out there wants to start a social media outreach, but I do wonder, from a marketing standpoint, which objectives are you trying to measure or answer with a social media campaign? IS it engagement? Or does having a Facebook page increase brick n mortal sales? It depends by business but I do wonder.

After running a Google campaign, you will get a long data report. Other than looking for the obvious, CTR, what else do you look for, both from a tatical and strategic level?

I just read on a blog that 18% of online visitors use social media to search for information. I actually think it is higher. I personally have used Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter to search for restaurant recommendations and events. What about you? What do you think?

I just read this blog post and I found it very interesting to share:

http://searchenginewatch.com/3635508

What made me want to share is the fact about content networks.

So what are your thoughts?

One of my client's site is actually going through a site refresh. As an analyst, I advise to monitor the site's web analytics for at least the first 6 months and see if there were any increase in traffic from the major search engines. What else do you monitor to determine if the site refresh help?

This is great. Thanks for all the links.

There is so much out there on search marketing and PPC. The question is: "Where would you recommend to learn the nuts and bolts of these two and similar areas?" I like to read from blogs and I really want to start reading some books out there. Any recommendations?

You can post your url all over the place but if you dont post relevant likes with valuable information and/or sales, then the click-through rate will be very minimal.

Yes, I have also seen those extra long e-signatures. Thus, this is another example of clutter 2.0.

You should do a search on archived DaniWeb posts as well as on Mashable. There are big lists of url submission sites, especially for niche markets.

Some forums do not allow for signatures - and you jeopardize your membership if you get caught, even once, with a spammy signature. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Do keep that in mind.

My question is: "Are people actually listening too all this non-actionable "insights"?"

If you think about it, social media has been in existing since pre-historic age. It was the communication of groups of people - just there has been a shift in the form of communication - thus, now it is social media 2.0. I wonder how it will be in a few years...Social Media 3.0?

Tweeting is the modern day version of "putting your foot in your mouth" or being a chit-chatter or providing "inside information". Thus, companies, especially financial and pharma companies do have very strict rules regarding releasing information. So I can just imagine the consequences...

I think this is an often seen problem among many type of "trends" professionals. There is no official schooling and no licensure so it helps make this issue more prevalent.

The type of metrics and KPIs you get from a social media campaign varies per tactic and vertical. Just keep that in mind.