| LED Digest 1948: The Blog Hype, also Google's Toolbar |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. March 23, 2005 Issue #1948 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Blogging ==-- ~ Jacob Matthan "...we are in a process of steady development in internet usage." ~ Ken Evoy "...I've watched everyone and his dog...jump on the blog wagon..." ~ Dirk Johnson "Blogs are just modern versions of the old 'personal home pages'..." ~ Brett Atkin "I think blogging is here to stay, for better or worse." --== Google's Toolbar Stealing? ==-- ~ Will Bontrager "Doing the 'google dance' now has another definition." ~ John "zeke" Brumage "Google is the best interface between one human mind and the sum total of all human knowledge." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Outlook Virus ==-- ~ Chuck Hiatt --== Article Worth Reading ==-- ~ Tom Aman ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Jacob Matthan Subject: Blogging > Do you think blogging is here to stay? Or is it just > another internet "phenomenon" that will go the way > of the blinking marquee? ... I'm tired of reading the > hype and would enjoy a down to earth discussion > of blogging. - Ronni Rhodes, LED 1946 I feel we are in a process of steady development in internet usage. Starting with email, we went to internet, followed by personal web pages, and this has led to the art of blogging. This is accompanied by Google email service with its 1 GB storage andwonderful search and file features and also such services, as from Flickr.com, which keeps photographs online and with direct bloggng. I can see many more strategic developments in the field coming in the next decade - including the demise of the Mainstream Media. I think Google and Apple are the trend setters of today. Microsoft, like always, is trying to play catch up to destroy the opposition, which, with its huge computer base, it plays very effectively. However, thank God for people who are not of the Microsoft mould, as otherwise we would still be in the DOS era!! Jacob Matthan http://jmatthan.blogspot.com Oulu, Finland ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Ken Evoy Subject: Blogging Ronni Rhodes asked some great questions [issue 1946]... > Do you think blogging is here to stay? Or is it > just another internet "phenomenon" that will > go the way of the blinking marquee? > Do blogs truly have commercial value for the average > small business? Or are they just a substitute for a web > site? Can they attract a large enough audience to > actually create revenue? Blogs and RSS are so intertwined that many use the terms interchangeably. So, just to avoid confusion, let's split them off and then focus on blogging. Blogs are just another form of content. RSS distributes content, all kinds of content from text to mp3s. Let's use radio as an example -- a blog is like an hourly news report -- not much use without the technology of radio to distribute it. We're covered RSS in this list and all the reasons why it's here to stay and grow. But blogging? Like you, Ronni, I've watched everyone and his dog (including MSN Spaces, Google's Blogger, and now Yahoo! 360) jumped on the blog wagon. My quick two cents... 1) Only about 30% of approx. 20,000 Site Build It! sites use the e-zine functionality we provide, despite all the benefits we know about. And SBI! users are highly motivated small business people, serious people who pay an annual fee upfront and really WORK at it (take a look at Alexa for the # of page visits per visitor). The reason for lowish e-zine publication, of course, is the extra work required to create and publish that content. We all know, I'm sure, the work required to publish a zine (hey, Adam has it figured out -- we create the content for him! ;-) ). 2) A blog is just a frequently changing Web page. Yes, it offers the ability for folks to reply and trackback, but if you boil it down, it's just frequently changing content. The key word is "frequently." A blog is a bigger commitment than an zine -- if it's not at least daily, its just not very active. 3) Several blogs that I've subscribed to started off great, but the frequency dropped and then stopped. Once a month, I delete a few that just seem to have lost interest. My recommendation? Blog if it fits your time, passion and market. Use RSS to distribute it, of course. But for most business people (as opposed to hobbyists -- much of blogging may simply become the occasional person hobby / family type statement, of little commercial value)... Use RSS to distribute content that you otherwise already create and distribute (through your site and zine). We certainly see a steady uptick from our feeds. The key is to offer new benefits. We discuss this more on this page at our site about RSS... http://rss.sitesell.com/rss-4.html . This site goes against the current of all the hype. Ultimately, RSS will be everywhere and used in ways we have not yet even imagined. Blogging? It's for hobbyists and a small percentage of small businesses for whom the model fits (including "name" authors like Seth Godin and Tom Peters, for whom blogging fits like a glove). Your time is better spent building out solid content on your Web site, and using RSS as a new channel to distribute THAT content. That entire approach is described on our site about rss. I wrote it because I was so baffled by all the smoke that I need to get to the fire and see how strong it was. All the best, Ken Evoy http://rss.sitesell.com/ ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dirk Johnson Subject: Down to Earth Blog Discussion Two more cents on blogs... I am neither a proponent or opponent of blogs. To me it is just more "stuff on the Web", and it either works in a business context, or it doesn't. I am an opponent of the overblown hype that surrounds blogging. I think it is ridiculous to associate the term "blog" with a website in order to have it take on some kind enhanced significance. Blogs are just modern versions of the old "personal home pages", and a blogging tool just makes it easier to post the content. And therein lies both the upside and downside. I could care less if it is snowing in the blogger's hometown, what their cat ate for breakfast and then disgorged on their home office carpet, and their daily angst and frustrations over the more mundane aspects of their lives. I don't want a window into their private world, mostly because I am very busy, but also because I consider it an unprofessional imposition by the writer on their readers, at least within a business context. Even worse, I don't want to read other people's endless responses to it, if it is an "open" blog. Some people may want this stream of output, and be entertained by it. Many others have no time for it. To me, it is no different than chat room babble and un-moderated discussion boards. Been there, done that, years ago, and I avoid it like the plague now. Even "corporate" blogs run the risk of being abused, and are prone to announcing self-congratulatory minutiae that is posted just to fill a perceived void. I think Adam has struck the right balance here at LED Digest, which is an well-edited, well-structured dialogue. LED Digest - The anti-blog! Stream-of-consciousness writing has no restraints, except those imposed by the writers on themselves. To attract a business audience, as opposed to an "entertainment" audience, I think that the writers need to stay on message, and self-edit with a vengeance. Act as responsible publishers. I think that maintaining relevance is the constant challenge to those who want to use blogging tools commercially. Best regards, Dirk Johnson, Owner LinkStrategy.com http://www.linkstrategy.com ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Brett Atkin Subject: Blogging I think blogging is here to stay, for better or worse. I'm still debating (to myself) the better or worse part given all the ways I get information (books, magazines, TV, Internet, email and blogs). It's a bit overwhelming to keep up sometimes, but that's because of my own inability to make choices.... Anyway, I have a client (http://www.kevineikenberry.com) that implemented a blog into their web site just a year ago using Blogger. Currently, their blog section gets the most traffic. Just in the last 4-5 months, the site traffic has doubled, mostly because of blog traffic. Their blog is in the top 10 in Google for the following terms: Leadership blog Customer Service blog Teamwork blog (#1) Creativity blog (#1) To be honest, the blog was implemented because I read (probably here) that Google loved the content and for branding the owner. You were right about the Google traffic and my client is thrilled. As far as the branding goes, that is harder to measure given that client is in the service sector, but the jump in traffic has increased the number and frequency of information requests. Some of that has led to new business, some hasn't. In this one particular case, blogging has been the key (with just a little help from Google ;-)) in the client's eyes. As far as a web site substitute goes, many use blogs and blogger tools that way. They are perfect in many cases, especially for individuals since they are basically a simple content management system. For bigger businesses, I don't believe blogging software can satisfy all the needs of a web site but products such as Movable Type are pretty amazing in their features. Brett Atkin http://www.brettatkin.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Will Bontrager Subject: Google toolbar To answer two of Dave Starr's questions in LED 1947: > However, without a link from the [ISBN] number > to the desired source for the book, what possible > e-commerce could the Google Toolbar take away > from that site? The question assumes the site visitor desires the book. Accordingly, here are a couple examples of possible e-commerce theft with that assumption in mind, although, to my knowledge, the toolbar causes the site owner's page to be modified for the visitor whether or not the visitor actually desires the book. 1. A non-profit organization helping the homeless lists a dozen or so titles with author and ISBN on a page. At the bottom of the page, you fill in the order form. Profit from sales allows the organization to fulfill its mission. Google would be telling those people how they must construct their web pages, all ISBN numbers must be linked to somewhere, or else they themselves will link those ISBN numbers to another bookseller and phooey on their no-account homeless people. 2. An author is selling a self-published book on the 'net. On the order form is a checkbox next to another title listed with full disclosure of author and ISBN, which may be ordered at the same time. Unless this author dances to Google's tune, the ISBN number will be linked to another bookseller, which can result in not only many losses of sale of that title, but also many losses of sales of the self-published book. Doing the "google dance" now has another definition. > I could put the words "Rolls-Royce" on my home page. But if > I had no way to sell Rolls-Royces and no link to a way to buy > a Rolls-Royce, what possible business could Google "steal"? You're selling Jaguars and your home page compares your product with Rolls-Royce. Will Bontrager http://bontragercgi.com/ ------- new post - same topic -------- From: John "zeke" Brumage Subject: Google toolbar Although there may not be any test cases as of yet for toolbar modifications of web pages, I believe this has been through the courts in the case of a website framing content of other websites. A soon as any person or program makes a change to the content of a web page, or any creative work, they have produced a DERIVATIVE WORK. The right to create a derivative work is reserved exclusively to the owner of the copyright, so adding a button or link, like framing, appears to me to be a clear violation of copyright. I truly LOVE google, in fact I state in my blog that google is the best interface between one human mind and the sum total of all human knowledge. They very much need to find income streams, and i must applaud their creativity, but maybe this one needs a little rethinking. John "zeke" Brumage john,brumage.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Chuck Hiatt Subject: Outlook Virus? I hope someone can help me with a very irritating problem with Outlook. A message window opens over and over again telling me that a program is trying to access the email addresses in my address book. When I select the NO button denying access, the window just keeps refreshing and popping up. Obviously this is some sort of virus and I can't use the program until I can eradicate it. I have scanned my computer with Norton Antivirus, Spybot Search & Destroy and Adaware. I have also accessed DoxDesk. None of these utilities are identifying the problem or offering a solution. I hope one of you LED'ers out there can offer a solution and come to my rescue - PLEASE HELP! Chuck Hiatt Promogear.com, Inc. www.promogear.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Tom Aman Subject: Article worth a read ---------------- "You built your web site for the ravening hoards. You worked hard to make it appeal to the widest variety of people. You tested it for usability by the most diverse audience. "But I'm the only one there. "I'm the one holding the mouse. All that matters is what matters to me at the moment... "I want a web site that sees the world through my eyes, one that understands my needs. I want to instantly recognize how to navigate instead of having to guess. Give me a web site that walks me through my own agenda and I'll know exactly which button to click." - Jim Sterne, Target Marketing of Santa Barbara ---------------- These quotes are from an article by Jim Sterne. It is well worth reading the complete article that can be found at http://snipurl.com/dlm1 [crmguru.custhelp.com] Tom Aman Aman Software http://www.cyberspyder.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains © Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character." - W. Somerset Maugham |
