Just a quick not on two cool services that pay users for QA'ing sites / software:
1) Utest.com - they pay you per bug found, which is deposited into your' debit card they send you.
2) Usertesting.com - they do cheap usability tests.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The skinny on Twiistup's contestants...
So Twiistup 2009 is Socal's latest and greatest event, and the lineup really looks exciting! They are renting out a hanger by Santa Monica Airport to host everyone, and it's going to be a real great event. Twiistup just posted a list of the Twiistup finalists on their blog, with Andrew Warner from Mixergy giving each one the rundown.
Screencast of the companies showing off at twiistup from Andrew Warner on Vimeo.
Being thebrilliant opinionated person that's me, I've decided to post my own rundown on the final contestants, and who I'd love to meet this year. The 10 finalists are: Causecast, Cogi, eHow, Fixya, GoGreenSolar, Meebo, Robodynamics, TheScene,Viewdle and Yammer.
A couple of things before I start a caustic article:
1) I'm tired and I'm having fun. All of these companies are great, and I'll have a bunch of positive energy when I meet them at twiistup.
2) The companies that get me turned are those that have the potential to revolutionize the industry, and have left their competitors behind.
3) Content Companies don't really excite me, unless there's a technology behind it that I actually appreciate the demand for.
Causecast
Summary: "Causecast, dubbed “a one stop philanthropy shop” by TechCrunch, is a platform where media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment and education converge to serve a greater purpose."
I don't really appreciate companies that stand for causes online, unless there is really a unique need that they fill. At this point in my life, while I donate to different charities (and often online), I don't really feel motivated to involve myself in the actual issue. Do I care about many of the social issues? Yes! Do I feel that it takes the most priority in my life right now? No. So if someone explains to me what unique need it fills other than being "just another social network, I'm not that interested.
Cogi
Summary: Cogi set out with a simple goal – give professionals a way to effortlessly recall and track everything in their important conversations through the use of an intuitive, browser-based service that seamlessly transcribes the important parts of conversation – the ‘COGent Ideas’ or Cogi.
I love Cogi! In addition to the fact that I actually do spend time writing down stuff from meetings, I've been dying to have a service that will transcribe phone conversations for me automatically. As a social media marketer, and SEO person, you quickly come to realize that it's extremely important to be creating as much media as possible, and sharing whatever thoughts you can. (Most of them are pretty good, k?)
I've been dreaming of hiring a transcription company to record my phone calls and transcribe them, but this type of pricing really blows that away! I'm genuinely hoping these guys get on Twiistup's showcase, and I'm looking forward to meeting the founders.
eHow
Summary: "More than 27 million people visit eHow.com each month to search more than 300,000 articles that are professionally written with clear and concise directions on how to do things. It also has a rapidly-growing library of articles created by eHow’s members and a large library of professional instructional videos."
While creating a content destination site and making it sticky is a challenge, and any company amassing that amount of visitors truly deserves credit, I don't really think of it as a "web 2.0 startup" that fascinates me. I'd love to learn more about what they do to cultivate and promote community, how they maintain the quality of the site, and what "secret sauces" they've used to make it sticky, it doesn't get me fired up. Sorry.
Fixya
Summary: "FixYa empowers individuals to repair and improve upon their already-purchased possessions. The company also offers business services to manufacturers and retail businesses through its custom partnership opportunities."
As I said, I'm not that enthused by content sites. The thing that does interest me is the way that they've created a community of paid experts. The company I work for currently has a couple of sites with a similar business model, so I'd love to learn more about what them. Mediocre.
GoGreenSolar
Summary: GoGreenSolar is global group of professionals dedicated to improve the distribution of renewable energy products, services and financing for people everywhere.
Green tech is another thing that doesn't interest me all that much if they aren't a game changer. Take me to Tesla any day! Go Green Solar looks like a typical website that sells atypical products. Whether they are a manufacturer or just a distributor, it doesn't count as a game changing startup. Hey, I still wanna meet them (maybe they'll hire us to do the marketing:) ).
Meebo
Summary: "Meebo is a new communications and media company that’s re-writing the way people have conversations and communicate on the Web."
Meebo use to really fire me up. In fact, I was running it for a while, and it was one of the first companies in the IM aggregation industry. They have also managed to change it into a destination site, and enter into social media marketing rather quickly. They really are a leader, both in the startup and social media world.
However, I currently use Digsby, and am a happy person (if someone could only get me skype in there...), so it doesn't really fire my interest as a "winner". Sorry.
Robodynamics
Summary: "RoboDynamics is built by passionate people who want to use technology to shift the status quo and leverage state-of-the-art technology in robotics to change the way people live and work."
Robodynamics doesn't really seem to fill my own needs. I'd prefer to see my boss on Skype video, and spending the time moving my little video bot to the coffee room so that my employees can talk to me too, and look at the little 4" screen there doesn't sound so appealing. Then again, it's pretty cheap, it's cool looking, and who knows?
Truth is, it's such a fun sounding concept, I want to see them present, just so I can see it roll around Twiistup!
TheScene
Summary: "The Scene connects individuals to the hottest places, people and events in their area. The Scene’s trendsetting community is on the pulse of nightlife and entertainment in various cities throughout the world."
Being on the marketing team for a startup competitor (not really launched yet) - Your Social Plate, I actually appreciate the needs/potential for the site. So although I generally don't care for content sites (what's special about them anyways?), I'd like to learn more about TheScene.com.
Viewdle
Summary: "Viewdle is a facial-recognition powered digital media platform for indexing, searching and monetizing video assets. "
Viewdle is a great idea, and a way to make video's "smarter". Yet, I think the full potential for it hasn't fully been reached. There are privacy issue's, distribution issues, and a clear value proposition that I'm not seeing yet in order for a large change to take place. I'd love to see what they have in mind, how they plan on deploying, but not a high priority. Sorry.
Yammer
Summary: "Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: ‘What are you working on?’"
Arggh, Yammer! First off, I wish I could communicate with my boss and coworkers on twitter. Unfortunately, you will find that most people don't really care to do this yet. So I don't think you'll find wide adoption. How many CEO's are signed up to twitter, let alone looking at the steady stream of creative ideas coming in from the PR and marketing departments.
Second of all, even if they were interested, personally, I wouldn't use a service like Yammer. Why would I let private company data onto a third party site, trusting them to do the "verification". What happens if I have a disgruntled employee, who still has his login, or who started the whole company yammer network. What do I do then? Especially, since it's so easy to build my own private twitter network out of wordpress.
So while it's an awesome concept, and an easy revenue stream (uhh, twitter, why aren't you doing this?) - I wish I would have thought of it... I'm not all that impressed by implementation. Plus, what about integration into third party applications. Start tapping into project management API's such as basecamp, and then I'll start getting excited! Sorry.
This post is brought to you by David Jaeger, a Los Angeles Search Marketer, employed by SARBRO Solutions. You can see other Web 2.0 and Online Marketing Related events at Live Internet Marketing.
Screencast of the companies showing off at twiistup from Andrew Warner on Vimeo.
Being the
A couple of things before I start a caustic article:
1) I'm tired and I'm having fun. All of these companies are great, and I'll have a bunch of positive energy when I meet them at twiistup.
2) The companies that get me turned are those that have the potential to revolutionize the industry, and have left their competitors behind.
3) Content Companies don't really excite me, unless there's a technology behind it that I actually appreciate the demand for.
Causecast
Summary: "Causecast, dubbed “a one stop philanthropy shop” by TechCrunch, is a platform where media, philanthropy, social networking, entertainment and education converge to serve a greater purpose."
I don't really appreciate companies that stand for causes online, unless there is really a unique need that they fill. At this point in my life, while I donate to different charities (and often online), I don't really feel motivated to involve myself in the actual issue. Do I care about many of the social issues? Yes! Do I feel that it takes the most priority in my life right now? No. So if someone explains to me what unique need it fills other than being "just another social network, I'm not that interested.
Cogi
Summary: Cogi set out with a simple goal – give professionals a way to effortlessly recall and track everything in their important conversations through the use of an intuitive, browser-based service that seamlessly transcribes the important parts of conversation – the ‘COGent Ideas’ or Cogi.
I love Cogi! In addition to the fact that I actually do spend time writing down stuff from meetings, I've been dying to have a service that will transcribe phone conversations for me automatically. As a social media marketer, and SEO person, you quickly come to realize that it's extremely important to be creating as much media as possible, and sharing whatever thoughts you can. (Most of them are pretty good, k?)
I've been dreaming of hiring a transcription company to record my phone calls and transcribe them, but this type of pricing really blows that away! I'm genuinely hoping these guys get on Twiistup's showcase, and I'm looking forward to meeting the founders.
eHow
Summary: "More than 27 million people visit eHow.com each month to search more than 300,000 articles that are professionally written with clear and concise directions on how to do things. It also has a rapidly-growing library of articles created by eHow’s members and a large library of professional instructional videos."
While creating a content destination site and making it sticky is a challenge, and any company amassing that amount of visitors truly deserves credit, I don't really think of it as a "web 2.0 startup" that fascinates me. I'd love to learn more about what they do to cultivate and promote community, how they maintain the quality of the site, and what "secret sauces" they've used to make it sticky, it doesn't get me fired up. Sorry.
Fixya
Summary: "FixYa empowers individuals to repair and improve upon their already-purchased possessions. The company also offers business services to manufacturers and retail businesses through its custom partnership opportunities."
As I said, I'm not that enthused by content sites. The thing that does interest me is the way that they've created a community of paid experts. The company I work for currently has a couple of sites with a similar business model, so I'd love to learn more about what them. Mediocre.
GoGreenSolar
Summary: GoGreenSolar is global group of professionals dedicated to improve the distribution of renewable energy products, services and financing for people everywhere.
Green tech is another thing that doesn't interest me all that much if they aren't a game changer. Take me to Tesla any day! Go Green Solar looks like a typical website that sells atypical products. Whether they are a manufacturer or just a distributor, it doesn't count as a game changing startup. Hey, I still wanna meet them (maybe they'll hire us to do the marketing:) ).
Meebo
Summary: "Meebo is a new communications and media company that’s re-writing the way people have conversations and communicate on the Web."
Meebo use to really fire me up. In fact, I was running it for a while, and it was one of the first companies in the IM aggregation industry. They have also managed to change it into a destination site, and enter into social media marketing rather quickly. They really are a leader, both in the startup and social media world.
However, I currently use Digsby, and am a happy person (if someone could only get me skype in there...), so it doesn't really fire my interest as a "winner". Sorry.
Robodynamics
Summary: "RoboDynamics is built by passionate people who want to use technology to shift the status quo and leverage state-of-the-art technology in robotics to change the way people live and work."
Robodynamics doesn't really seem to fill my own needs. I'd prefer to see my boss on Skype video, and spending the time moving my little video bot to the coffee room so that my employees can talk to me too, and look at the little 4" screen there doesn't sound so appealing. Then again, it's pretty cheap, it's cool looking, and who knows?
Truth is, it's such a fun sounding concept, I want to see them present, just so I can see it roll around Twiistup!
TheScene
Summary: "The Scene connects individuals to the hottest places, people and events in their area. The Scene’s trendsetting community is on the pulse of nightlife and entertainment in various cities throughout the world."
Being on the marketing team for a startup competitor (not really launched yet) - Your Social Plate, I actually appreciate the needs/potential for the site. So although I generally don't care for content sites (what's special about them anyways?), I'd like to learn more about TheScene.com.
Viewdle
Summary: "Viewdle is a facial-recognition powered digital media platform for indexing, searching and monetizing video assets. "
Viewdle is a great idea, and a way to make video's "smarter". Yet, I think the full potential for it hasn't fully been reached. There are privacy issue's, distribution issues, and a clear value proposition that I'm not seeing yet in order for a large change to take place. I'd love to see what they have in mind, how they plan on deploying, but not a high priority. Sorry.
Yammer
Summary: "Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: ‘What are you working on?’"
Arggh, Yammer! First off, I wish I could communicate with my boss and coworkers on twitter. Unfortunately, you will find that most people don't really care to do this yet. So I don't think you'll find wide adoption. How many CEO's are signed up to twitter, let alone looking at the steady stream of creative ideas coming in from the PR and marketing departments.
Second of all, even if they were interested, personally, I wouldn't use a service like Yammer. Why would I let private company data onto a third party site, trusting them to do the "verification". What happens if I have a disgruntled employee, who still has his login, or who started the whole company yammer network. What do I do then? Especially, since it's so easy to build my own private twitter network out of wordpress.
So while it's an awesome concept, and an easy revenue stream (uhh, twitter, why aren't you doing this?) - I wish I would have thought of it... I'm not all that impressed by implementation. Plus, what about integration into third party applications. Start tapping into project management API's such as basecamp, and then I'll start getting excited! Sorry.
This post is brought to you by David Jaeger, a Los Angeles Search Marketer, employed by SARBRO Solutions. You can see other Web 2.0 and Online Marketing Related events at Live Internet Marketing.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Using YouTube Sponsored Video
Instead of Hijacking David Berkowitz's post about how to use Youtube Video's Sponsored Campaigns, I'll point you to his great post on Mediapost about it.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Los Angeles Mixergy and Magento Event, Nov. 6, 7-10 PM
Magento and Mixergy are putting on a mixer Nov. 6, next Thursday. I really appreciate Andrew at Mixergy's events, as they allow all of us scattered LA web 2.0 people to gather together and meet.
Magento is a great ecommerce platform that is Open source. Knowing many of the alternatives, both open source and proprietary, Magento is currently the best solution out there - in my opinion. I met them at a twiistup a couple of years ago, and the features they offer rival what the best ecommerce solutions (I think of Amazon) use. Whether it's split testing, cross promotions etc., they really are unique. I look forward to going, and hope to see you there.
You can sign up for the event at Mixergy, by clicking the link.
About Results Marketing is an Search Engine Marketing Company in Los Angeles. If you had an opportunity, where every dollar you invest would turn into $2 within 30 days, how much money could you spend?
Well, Pay Per Click Marketing is like that. If you would like some help setting up your PPC Campaign for that type of success, call us at: 866-539-3549.
Magento is a great ecommerce platform that is Open source. Knowing many of the alternatives, both open source and proprietary, Magento is currently the best solution out there - in my opinion. I met them at a twiistup a couple of years ago, and the features they offer rival what the best ecommerce solutions (I think of Amazon) use. Whether it's split testing, cross promotions etc., they really are unique. I look forward to going, and hope to see you there.
You can sign up for the event at Mixergy, by clicking the link.
About Results Marketing is an Search Engine Marketing Company in Los Angeles. If you had an opportunity, where every dollar you invest would turn into $2 within 30 days, how much money could you spend?
Well, Pay Per Click Marketing is like that. If you would like some help setting up your PPC Campaign for that type of success, call us at: 866-539-3549.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
64 Tips for Getting Started with Google Website Optimizer
If you are looking for a quick place to find elements on your landing page to test, this article from futurenow is amazing
64 Tips for Getting Started with Google Website Optimizer
64 Tips for Getting Started with Google Website Optimizer
Sunday, September 28, 2008
WebMD is ready to SUE ME...
I'm doing some of my lovely keyword and competitive research, when I come by WebMD's "link to us" page. I'm always interested in those pages, because in some rare cases, a respected company can still have a forgotten link exchange page.
But this one's good... Here's WebMD's Links Page:
But this one's good... Here's WebMD's Links Page:
"Thank you for your interest in linking to WebMD's in-depth health and wellness information. WebMD is pleased to offer you and your web site visitors access to our disease-specific content, offered in an easy format that is simple to implement on your web site.Did you know that it is illegal to link to any of WebMD's content (other than our home page) without accepting our terms and conditions? WebMD is eager to provide you with a convenient and simple way to quickly review and accept these terms.
Here's how:
- Simply fill out the form below and review the Terms and Conditions box before clicking the "I Accept" button. (This part should only take a few minutes.)
- You will then be given a list of hundreds of our disease-specific content pages, along with titles, descriptions, and URLs.
- From this list, select as many areas as you wish to link to. Copy the title to use for the linking text, the URL to link to, and the description if further information is needed.
How simlple, easy and user friendly...
About Results Marketing is an LA Marketing firm dedicated to helping large and small businesses alike increase their revenue by online marketing.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Google Chrome Browser - Yawn...
OK, so am I the only one who isn't that impressed by Google Chrome? I mean c'mon. We've got some great browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Flock (Built on Firefox).
I'm personallly committed to Firefox - it's got some real great SEO / SEM tools that I just can't live without. Otherwise I would have gone to Opera, thanks to it's lightweight loading.
I'm a little bit disappointed in Google as well. Why do you have to create a new experience, and split the coders between Firefox, Opera and Chrome? Couldn't you just have left it at Firefox and put your improvements there?
I'm personallly committed to Firefox - it's got some real great SEO / SEM tools that I just can't live without. Otherwise I would have gone to Opera, thanks to it's lightweight loading.
I'm a little bit disappointed in Google as well. Why do you have to create a new experience, and split the coders between Firefox, Opera and Chrome? Couldn't you just have left it at Firefox and put your improvements there?
Monday, September 1, 2008
Non Scientific Facebook Rant
Using the Visa Facebook Credits, I've managed to spend $110 on a marketing campaign on facebook. Unfortunately, it fell completely flat. I figured that sending them to an external site would not generate much results. So, instead, I had them join a facebook page. The facebook page was pretty "immature", but it did have something.
Nonetheless, it didn't work. I spent $110, got two signups, and that's it. I didn't even monetize those signups. I'll have to try something else next time around...
David
Nonetheless, it didn't work. I spent $110, got two signups, and that's it. I didn't even monetize those signups. I'll have to try something else next time around...
David
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Free $100 Facebook Ads Credits - Just add the Visa Business App
Just read an article in Mashable that Visa Partnered with Facebook to offer small business owners who sign up with them with $100 in facebook ad credits, so I figured "hey, let's see if this actually works?"... So I added the VISA app - and who knew, but I received an email from facebook telling me how to get my coupon! Sweet!
The question is, what do you do with $100 in facebook credits?
First off, I've been playing around with facebook ads for a little while. First thing I did was watch what everyone else is putting on facebook ads, and seeing what lasts. The rule of thumb about advertising - even in new markets, is that advertising that's working continues runnning. Not always true, but you need deep pockets if it's not working!
Unfortunately, in my demo, the most common facebook ad is a dating one. So I tried seeing what the response for a dating ad would be - using an affiliate program. Facebook nixed it, so I didn't bother trying to get it approved again.
I tried a financial one, which unofficially has been getting no clicks, but I am getting credit for leads coming in, so I assume it works - which is nice not to get charged for clicks and still get them
That's been a little of an aside. It seems that the goal of the visa / facebook partnership is to push the platform as one that is optimal for small businesses to use. That being said, it sparked my imagination, and I plan on putting one of my business offers on a facebook page, and then advertising that facebook page...
Thanks for the $100 bucks guys - I do plan to use it :)
Monday, June 23, 2008
The in-house agency vs. outside agency debate gets settled for once and for all!
While working at a comapny doing paid search, I went over the debate of whether to hire an outside firm to do the paid search, or to leave to an in-house team.
It seems that Dave Pasternack has p*wned me, claiming that there is no situation in which an in-house agency will beat the outside agency. In a way I understand where he's coming from, as an independent SEM practitioner, I have much more access to general knowledge than I did in-house. However, that was waay to generalized, and everyone else in the comments have jumped on him for making that type of generalization.
Sweet.
About Results Marketing is a Los Angeles Internet Marketing firm dedicated to helping businesses market themselves online effectively.
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