Andy Boyer

Month: January 2009

  • TweetCongress

    2 Twitter posts in one day….must mean something, right?  Anyway, proof of concept – I saw this on Twitter, posted by John Batelle.

    http://tweetcongress.org/

    Silly, but really why *shouldn’t* Congress be updating us in real time?

  • Suck it up Haters – Twitter is here for good

    I know – it still makes no sense.  And it still sounds dumb to say you “Tweeted” something.

    But there are times when you have to admit things.  Like when you realized the DVD was replacing the VCR, that EVERYONE would eventually have a mobile phone, blogging was going to be here forever, and you would never again buy music that didn’t come as an .mp3.

    Twitter has reached that stage.  It is here to stay.  It has enough users now that business models are being built around it, even while it doesn’t have one of its own.  And here’s the thing – it doesn’t need one.  Someone will buy it.  If you won’t listen to me, read the charts below – the ones that show 800% growth YoY.  So go get your Twitter account and stop resisting.  It’s free, it’s easy and it’s fun.  Quit making fun of it and use it.

     

     

  • I Become an iLemming

    Well, I finally succumbed to the pressure.

    Since it launched, I’ve seen proud and cheerful owners of the iPhone gleefully show off thier little toy.  In bars, in meetings, in lines at Starbucks, they tauntingly stick it into your face, showing you all the magical things it can do.

    I resisted.  

    I stayed true to my core Blackberry.  I like the Blackberry.  It’s easy to use.  I don’t need real time stock ticket updates or the best way to walk from the Space Needle to Palace Kitchen.  I need a phone and text, and maybe some Internet.

    Saturday, something snapped.  

    Suddenly I realized that the phone had changed.  I knew it before, but I finally admitted to the analogy that we’re in the mobile version of the shift from VCR to DVD, and I still owned a VCR.  And there is no reason to buy another souped up VCR.  It is no longer an issue of iPhone vs Blackberry.  It’s become an issue of mobile devices in 2009 and beyond, vs mobile devices in 2008 and prior.  I knew all of this already, but some light piece of straw finally made that camel’s back break.  And the camel asked for an iPhone.

    Now I’m simply a junior member of the cult.  I look for and will listen to the teachings of those original iPhone disciples.  And I have to admit to myself that I’m more than a little excited to play with all the toys and gimmicks.  

    Now, I haven’t yet stood in line and condescendingly scoffed at those simple “iNots” walking around with their pedestrian devices.  But I’m sure one day, as I breeze through Google Maps or order a video before boarding a plane, I’ll have that smug look of a full fledged cult member.  

    If you are an iPhone Davidian and have a favorite “must-have” application, please let me know.

  • All Hail the Blogger In Chief

    Inauguration day – Tears of joy, hope renewed and a feeling that we will all succeed.

    Well, maybe that sentiment was felt by the general public as well, but anyone running a Social Media Marketing agency was even more pleased when the President of the United States proclaimed transparency was king and announced the White House would have a blog, communicating directly with its consumers/constituents in a conversational manner.

    The news made waves around the Seattle Social Media community as well.  “Will he Twitter?”  “Will there be a White House YouTube Channel?”  “What new platforms will the White House use for Social Media?”

    Any marketing effort that is being undertaken by the leader of the free world basically trumps every argument from any CEO rejecting Social Media as a valuable part of the marketing mix.  So thank you Mr. President.  You have already provided stimulus to one industry.

     

  • When Does Something Stop Being A Start-up

    TechFlash details the latest version of Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle Startup Index.  The index tracks the Web traffic of Seattle based startups.  TechFlash trumpets that once again, Zillow.com is at the top of the ist.

    Now, I’m not trying to be ornery, but there’s something about being at the top of a list of “Start-ups” for multiple years, that feels akin to winning Rookie of the Year 3 times.  I see a lot of names on the Start-up list besides Zillow that have been around for quite awhile.  Names like Payscale, WetPaint, Jobster and Widgetbucks (formerly mpire.com).  

    You might ask, “Who cares?”

    Well if you are a start-up that launched in 2008, you certainly care that your traffic numbers are being compared to those of a companies that are reaching their 4th birthday.  Especially if some of them have geenrated serious rounds of funding already.  One would assume that a senior in his 4th year playing basketball would have more cumulative points than a freshman, no matter how exciting that freshman is.  

    It all just makes me wonder how a “Start-up” is defined these days.

  • AOL Splits

    We know that a number of companies are going to have to radically change their practices to survive this year.  In what could be the first “re-invention” of 2009, AOL appears to have split itself in two, blowing up the AOL brand in the process.

    The new divisions are called MediaGlow and PeopleNetworks.  According to AdWeek, “MediaGlow encompasses a collection of 70 niche content sites launched in recent years, ranging from AOL Health to nonbranded properties like TMZ.com.”  it appears to be similar to Federated Media, a collection of web sites all served by a single ad network.

    Meanwhile, “People Networks focuses on social media properties like Bebo and AOL Instant Messenger.”

    The AOL portal is effectively gone, an acknowldgement that people are using search to land in their destination of choice, rather than having a single home page they visit every day.  

    There are a number of other features that you can read about in the article.  Basically though, the old AOL is finally done.  It will be interesting to see if the new AOL properties become leaders in their new markets.

  • But How Much is My Facebook Page Worth

    So Twitter doesn’t make a dime of revenue.  But there must be value there, since it’s extremely popular and nature abhors a vacuum.  So maybe I’m the one who should generate the revenue from it.  

    For example, suppose Pepsi called me and wanted me to tell all my Twitter friends that Double Caffeinated Clear Blueberry Diet-Pepsi was a one calorie blow pop of hyperactive goodness.  How much would I charge them?

    Well lucky for me, I can go to TweetValue.com and get an estimate.  Turns out all my 60 or so Twitter friends are worth a measley $18.  Which actually sounds like a lot of money to me because it’s around to a $300 CPM.  Pepsi media buyer, call in the next 48 hours and I’ll give you a special deal price of $10 for each January tweet, and we’ll see how it goes.  

    Maybe one day I can get as valuable as Shaquille O’Neal’s Twitter feed, which is a reachable $302. Barack Obama’s value of $41,000 seems a little unattainable.

    But, I do wonder what would I get to message my Facebook friends?

  • Techcrunch Crashes

    I don’t know why I find this amusing.  But Techcrunch, the sometimes snarky, often critical, source to get news about the technology industry, experienced a site crash today.  

    This is only relevant since they consistently blast web sites and technologies when their servers break.  I wonder of they will explain what caused their own server issue.  

  • Why Models Don’t Run PR Agencies

    So someone writes something nasty about you on a blog no one reads.  What do you do?

    a) Ignore it 

    b) Write a post on your own blog explaining why the other post is libelous

    c) Do some personal SEO work so that you can bury the post on Google under a list of your own links

    d) File a lawsuit so that the post goes super public across the blogosphere, letting everyone in the world link to the post that says the nasty things about you, and making it the number one link that shows up when people Google you for the next 20 years?

    If you answered A, B or C, then we can have a reasonable conversation.  If you said, D, then you are model Liskula Cohen and are not familiar with how the world of Social Media works.  According to this Mediapost article, “Cohen alleges that she was defamed by the blog Skanks in NYC. The entire blog consists of five posts, all dated Aug. 21 that jab at Cohen.”  Note that the posts came out in August 2008, and if anyone cared about it then, they certainly don’t care now.  But, Cohen has managed to grab the remains of that flame, fan it, dump gasoline on it, and insert half a forest into the campfire.  Well done.

    On a side but not totally irrelevant note, this is an important lesson in why you need to spend the $50 a year to own the url’s of your name, to register yourname.everyblog.com, to have basic profiles on Ning, LinkedIn, Naymz, Biznik, etc….and lock down yourname@everyemailaddress.com.  Because, you just never know when you may be named to a blog like Skanks of NYC and need to bury the link when people Google you.

  • What is Happening at Qwest Field July 4?

    If you google: Seattle Sounders July 4 (or just click on this link) you’ll get a mysterious return.  All of the major ticket scalping sites have seats for sales, some for as much as $3000.  What do they know that the Sounders aren’t telling us?  And is it brilliant or careless to let the ticket brokers leak that some event is going to occur before you send out any formal announcements?  Hmm….