“Hello. My name is Cori and I’m a social media addict. “Today is day 1 of my commitment to give myself a regular break from technology and the foggy, uncreative haze it can unwittingly lead to.” I was reading a post the other day by blogger Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider, talking about getting your social media game on. Of course, being the skimmer that I am, the first thing that caught my attention and made me go back and read the whole thing was his mention of having a Social Media Hangover. His hangover was induced by sometimes (as we all do) forgetting to…
Selected by bronwyndurand
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Most Topular Stories
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How to Recover From a Social Media Hangover
Copyblogger9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am -
Games developer launches themed restaurant
Springwise8 Feb 2012 | 3:50 amRegular Springwise readers may remember our article from 2010 about Snakes and Lattes, a themed café in Canada stocked with 1,500 board games. Taking the idea of a game themed eatery to the next level, Capcom, the Japanese video games developer, recently launched the Capcom Bar in Tokyo complete with in-house game kiosks and game-inspired dishes. Situated on the first floor of the Pasela Resort in Shinjuku, the Capcom Bar’s playful menu features a range of dishes inspired by the company’s famous releases. On offer is a meat dish recreating the stamina-boosting drumstick from the… -
Four Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
MarketingProfs How-To Articles6 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amIf you are serious about the words "sales," "profit," and "conversions," you must master keyword research. Learn four common pitfalls marketers make when selecting keywords--and how to avoid them. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
The 5 things that will derail your marketing in 2012
Drew's Marketing Minute8 Feb 2012 | 6:37 amI don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but the truth is — most organizations’ marketing efforts stink. And they stink for reasons well within the marketing department’s control. If you’re worried that your own efforts might fall short — beware of these five danger zones that can derail you in a blink! Inconsistency: Does your monthly newsletter go out 5 times a year? Does your copy tone/style fluctuate between somber and casual? Are your weekly sales calls happening every week? Inconsistency not only waters down your results but it also… -
Time For Brand Marketers To Lead A Comeback
Branding Strategy Insider7 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmIt’s a good thing the game between the NFL's New England Patriots and the New York Giants was exciting because this year’s Super Bowl commercials were dull, and what a weird thing to say about the Super Bowl. Generally, it’s the very opposite of that. Perhaps it’s best not to read too much into Super Bowl ads vying for viral buzz (many of which adopted a new pre-game, social media preview approach to generate buzz, albeit some have argued it was poorly done). But there was one thing that stood out. In a noticeable departure from the tradition of Super Bowl Sunday, this year’s crop…
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Copyblogger
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How to Recover From a Social Media Hangover
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am“Hello. My name is Cori and I’m a social media addict. “Today is day 1 of my commitment to give myself a regular break from technology and the foggy, uncreative haze it can unwittingly lead to.” I was reading a post the other day by blogger Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider, talking about getting your social media game on. Of course, being the skimmer that I am, the first thing that caught my attention and made me go back and read the whole thing was his mention of having a Social Media Hangover. His hangover was induced by sometimes (as we all do) forgetting to… -
The “New” SEO Secret Weapon
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIf you have a web site, you may have noticed one of two things about the traffic you get from search engines. Your search traffic may have dried up overnight, with once-healthy streams turning into a sad little trickle. Or you may have noticed a nice, steady improvement as you’ve climbed higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), while other sites that used to outrank you suddenly evaporated. There’s a super-secret new ingredient in SEO. It was always a factor, but it’s become even more important recently, as the Google team relentlessly declares war on what they see… -
8 Quick Tips for Writing Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIt’s a Twitterized world, we’re just living in it. Blog posts, Tweets, quick videos, Google+, the Facebook Timeline, and tens of thousands of images pinned to digital boards are flying past us faster than we can read them. Faster than we can even scan them, depending on the time of day. What does this mean for writers trying to cut through it all? At least two things that I can think of: You’d better know how to write a compelling headline You’d better know how to write bullet points that grab (and keep) your reader We’re not telling you to keep your copy short. -
7 Crucial Tactics for Writing a Wildly Successful Guest Post
6 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amWe all know that guest posts grow blogs. But not many people realize that tactical guest posting grows careers. Most bloggers I see pump out these articles while reciting the mantra “quantity over quality”; there’s no real strategy and there are no real long-term benefits. In this post I am going to show you the seven crucial tactics for writing a radically successful guest post. Done right, these strategies will get you more email subscribers, coveted Google ranking positions, and a big head-start on your content marketing goals. Who am I to teach you about guest blogging? -
7 Smashing Social Media Marketing Links
4 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amThis week on The Lede … What really works on Twitter One thing social media copywriters should never do 9 productive social media hacks A reminder of the power of the original social media If you just can’t wait for The Lede every Saturday, and you want even more practical, useable links than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. It’s painless. Really. // 9 Social Media Hacks You Need to Embrace Now Mr. Baer makes a good case that though social media is inexpensive in monetary terms, it can get good and costly when it comes to spending your…
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Springwise
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Games developer launches themed restaurant
8 Feb 2012 | 3:50 amRegular Springwise readers may remember our article from 2010 about Snakes and Lattes, a themed café in Canada stocked with 1,500 board games. Taking the idea of a game themed eatery to the next level, Capcom, the Japanese video games developer, recently launched the Capcom Bar in Tokyo complete with in-house game kiosks and game-inspired dishes. Situated on the first floor of the Pasela Resort in Shinjuku, the Capcom Bar’s playful menu features a range of dishes inspired by the company’s famous releases. On offer is a meat dish recreating the stamina-boosting drumstick from the… -
Single-estate coffees curated and delivered monthly to the door
3 Feb 2012 | 5:40 amThe march of the subscription services continues! The virtual ink had barely dried on our story about UK-based Trinkets when we came across Kopi, a like-minded company whose focus is single-estate coffees from around the world. Also based in the UK, Kopi sends subscribers a different gourmet coffee each month, hand-picked by a team of experts that includes some of Europe’s most respected green bean coffee traders, the company says. Roasting is done just days before delivery by a specially selected UK-based boutique roaster, and beans are available either whole or ground. Either way,… -
Offline to online platform rewards diners with Facebook credits
3 Feb 2012 | 4:01 amFacebook credits are a virtual currency that can be purchased with a credit or debit card to buy virtual goods in games and apps on the Facebook platform. However, never before have they been earned through purchasing goods offline. That is until Plink — a credits-based loyalty program that rewards Facebook users for dining at chain restaurants. Launched last month, Plink was created to help restaurants and offline retailers reach and motive their customers online. To start using the program, consumers log in via their Facebook account, register the debit or credit they use when eating out… -
In Norway, dog ‘locker’ keeps pets safe while owners shop for groceries
3 Feb 2012 | 2:46 amAccording to In Defense of Animals, approximately 5 million family pets go missing each year. No wonder, then, that a pet “locker” has popped up outside a Norwegian grocery store, offering dog owners a way to keep their canine companions safe and dry while they get their shopping done. Spotted by Swedish designer Henrick Eriksson recently outside an Oslo grocery store, the Hundehiet (translated roughly from Norwegian as “dog burrow”) gives consumers a safe, lockable place in which to keep their dog while they shop. Pricing, according to Eriksson, is NOK 10. How the Hundehiet units are… -
Restaurants’ takeout menus made interactive via QR codes
2 Feb 2012 | 8:36 amIt’s become increasingly common for restaurants to build and offer custom, branded mobile apps that let patrons place orders by phone, but it’s still up to consumers to go to the bother of downloading and installing them. Enter Paperlinks, a Los Angeles firm that has created a service that lets restaurants embed their takeout menus with QR codes for quick and seamless mobile ordering. Using Paperlinks’ new Order Takeout feature, restaurants can quickly develop mobile-optimized menus which can be accessed by scanning a QR code located on the printed menu, poster, or other…
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MarketingProfs How-To Articles
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Four Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
6 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amIf you are serious about the words "sales," "profit," and "conversions," you must master keyword research. Learn four common pitfalls marketers make when selecting keywords--and how to avoid them. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
The Inside Scoop on Using Twitter Lists for Profit and Sanity
3 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amThe dirty secret of Twitter is that as helpful as it can be, it's also a time sink. Learn how properly using and cleaning up your Twitter lists can help you save time--and generate leads for your business. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
10 Hot Tips (and a Promo Campaign Planner) for Seasonal Sale Success
2 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amCustomers today expect more deals and offers during holiday seasons, so it's important to create seasonal campaigns to increase revenues. Here are 10 tips--and a campaign planner--to help you achieve seasonal sale success. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Five Tips for Implementing a Successful QR Code Campaign
1 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amQR codes can be inexpensive to implement and can provide you a measureable return on investment--if you use them correctly. Learn five invaluable tips for implementing an effective QR code campaign. Read the full article at MarketingProfs -
Four Easy Tactics for Becoming a Must-Follow Account on Twitter
31 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amTwitter is a powerful channel that can help you connect with customers, promote products, and create brand awareness. Learn four tactics for making your Twitter account a social media heavyweight in your industry. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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Drew's Marketing Minute
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The 5 things that will derail your marketing in 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 6:37 amI don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but the truth is — most organizations’ marketing efforts stink. And they stink for reasons well within the marketing department’s control. If you’re worried that your own efforts might fall short — beware of these five danger zones that can derail you in a blink! Inconsistency: Does your monthly newsletter go out 5 times a year? Does your copy tone/style fluctuate between somber and casual? Are your weekly sales calls happening every week? Inconsistency not only waters down your results but it also… -
Crisis communications – don’t wait to create a plan
6 Feb 2012 | 6:10 amDoes your organization have a crisis communications plan that you could actually put into action at this very moment? All of the hubub surrounding the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and then their reversal of that decision following a 72+ hour firestorm of public outrage should have scared the bejesus out of you. If an organization as large, powerful and well respected as Komen can get into that much hot water — and is that ill-prepared to handle it then what in the world would happen to you if there was an accident on your job site, if your CFO embezzled… -
Don’t add frill until your core is rock solid
2 Feb 2012 | 6:15 amA couple times a month a cleaning company comes into our house and does a deep clean. Every time I walk into the house after they’ve cleaned… the toilet paper rolls and tissues sticking out of the boxes are folded in some sort of origami art. Sometimes, they leave a truffle on the kitchen counter. I get what they’re trying to do. And it’s a lovely little extra. Unfortunately, I also find things like: Every waste basket in the wrong spot (they’ve been cleaning the house for over a year) The back door unlocked or a window left open A few lights left on… -
What you don’t know about your sales funnel
30 Jan 2012 | 5:56 amWe all think and talk about our sales funnel a lot. We’re always saying things like: We need to keep it full. We need to stay active with the prospects that have been in it for awhile. On average, it takes a prospect X months to move through it. And so on…. But consider the statistic to the right. 60% of your sales efforts are what happens before you have actively put someone into the funnel. In other words — it’s not you who is doing the selling. Who is? Your existing customers The customer who left and is working with your competitors Your vendors Your website… -
What’s your purple goldfish?
11 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amGet your free copy of Stan Phelp’s book! A few years ago, I met Stan Phelps, another marketing guy, online (I think he commented on my blog and we started chatting via email) and before I knew it — we were friends. He was just dipping his toe into the blogging waters and I tried to be helpful along the way. Fast forward to today, January 11, 2012. Stan’s first book, What’s Your Purple Goldfish*, is being released today. I’ve read it and know you’re going to love it. Really love it. I’m also very humbled to say that Stan asked me to write the…
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Branding Strategy Insider
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Time For Brand Marketers To Lead A Comeback
7 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmIt’s a good thing the game between the NFL's New England Patriots and the New York Giants was exciting because this year’s Super Bowl commercials were dull, and what a weird thing to say about the Super Bowl. Generally, it’s the very opposite of that. Perhaps it’s best not to read too much into Super Bowl ads vying for viral buzz (many of which adopted a new pre-game, social media preview approach to generate buzz, albeit some have argued it was poorly done). But there was one thing that stood out. In a noticeable departure from the tradition of Super Bowl Sunday, this year’s crop… -
When To Reposition Your Brand
6 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmBrand repositioning is necessary when one or more of the following conditions exist: Your brand has a bad, confusing or nonexistent image. The primary benefit your brand "owns" has evolved from a differentiating benefit to a cost-of-entry benefit. Your organization is significantly altering its strategic direction. Your organization is entering new businesses and the current positioning is no longer appropriate. A new competitor with a superior value proposition enters your industry. Competition has usurped your brand's position or rendered it ineffectual. Your organization has acquired a… -
How To Transform An Under-Performing Brand
5 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmOnce the decision has been made to continue to invest in an under-performing brand, brand owners will be faced with a new set of challenges completely foreign to them. The temptation is always to do more of what got you there. That rarely works when brands face reinvention. By that I mean brand relevance. The main reason brands begin to under perform is that people no longer care. When that happens, like it or not, you’ll be starting over from scratch. This is a hard pill for brand owners to swallow, particularly if the brand was once an iconic leader in its category. For brand owners… -
Logo Design Requirements
4 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmA brand’s identity is a combination of visual, auditory, and other sensory components that create recognition, aid in memory encoding and decoding, represent the brand promise, provide differentiation, create communications synergy, and are proprietary. The logo is one key component. Here is what we look for when we evaluate logo design: Memorable – highest recognition and recall (both of which can be tested for) Including recognition at maximum distances (can be tested for) Aesthetically pleasing Timeless quality - the logo will not become dated Appropriate for the product/service… -
Brand Tagline Requirements
3 Feb 2012 | 9:10 pmIn definitive global research, The Conference Board has found the development and consistent use of a tagline to be a key factor in brand strategy success. A tagline that succinctly and powerfully communicates the brand’s promise is one of the quickest, easiest and least expensive ways to communicate the brand’s new position to internal and external audiences. It should consistently accompany the brand’s logo in situations outlined by the brand architecture. I believe that developing brand taglines (and elevator speeches) are the most important next steps one can take once a brand has…
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AdWeek: AdFreak
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James Franco Tries Advertising, Directs Spots for Seven Jeans
8 Feb 2012 | 11:21 amOh look, James Franco is doing something new with a camera. The actor, etc., is adding adman to his already-crowded resume by directing a series of 10 spots for designer jeans maker 7 For All Mankind (a brand also known simply as Seven). The brand won't start trickling out the clips on YouTube until Feb. 15. But it's teasing the campaign—in which Franco collaborated with Seven's creative agency, Lipman—with a lengthy breakdown in WWD and the behind-the-scenes video below, starring the back of Franco's head and the army of gyrating, scantily clad girls that's… -
Grainy Footage Reveals Draftfcb's Unorthodox Training Methods
8 Feb 2012 | 11:02 amLong has it been wondered: Where do Draftfcb creatives get their ideas? And how are Draftfcb account people so adept at dealing with clients? Thanks to the two videos below, we have our answers. It seems the creative process involves placing staffers in a "centrifuge for ideas" and extracting their insights in liquid form, before sending the workers back—wobbly but unharmed—to the creative department. The account folks have it even rougher. They're forced to scale and balance a giant, rickety, unstable "testing apparatus that simulates the client-agency… -
Doritos Pays Double to 'Crash the Super Bowl' Winners
8 Feb 2012 | 10:14 amDoritos is getting used to shelling out money to the amateurs in its Crash the Super Bowl contest. Last year, J.R. Burningham won $1 million after his "Pug Attack" topped the USA Today Ad Meter. This year, not one but two Doritos directors will each pocket $1 million—following USA Today's decision to split the Ad Meter into two separate rankings. Jonathan Friedman of Virginia Beach, Va., wins $1 million for his "Man's Best Friend" spot, which was the favorite of the traditional Ad Meter panel of 286 adult volunteers on Sunday night. And Kevin Willson of West… -
Was This the Best Movie Poster of 2011?
8 Feb 2012 | 7:38 amOnline film magazine Notebook's picks for the best movie posters of 2011 make for an interesting list. Most of them are for movies I've never heard of, but that's due to the international focus more than pretentiousness, I think. Chris Ware's poster for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (full image after the jump) tops the list. Melancholia's poster is boring, but Burning Man is really neat. And Super has a Burnt Face Man feel to it that I like. And while I wasn't a huge fan of the Drive poster, it is refreshing to see a picture of Ryan Gosling without that… -
In Britain, Bus Shelter Ads Smell Like Delicious Baked Potatoes
31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pmAh, the complex olfactory bouquet of the urban bus shelter. Trying to identify individual odors within such dense scent tapestries can be difficult, and most disturbing. That's not the case, however, at some locations in British cities like London and Manchester, where McCain Foods is installing 3-D ad panels that emit the aroma of freshly baked potatoes at the push of a button. Check out the picture. That "potato" looks like a big buttocks to me, but who am I to argue if those barmy Brits want to cop a feel or smear on some sour cream and chives? (Don't be so provincial,…
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MarketingProfessor.com
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Influence without the Hype
1 Feb 2012 | 5:21 amInfluence is a tricky thing. If in striving to be influential you succeed, at what cost. If failure is your outcome what can you learn? In either case it’s worth asking “was it worth it?”. No problem with influence here, but influence is best when it is a result of other business and marketing activities. The reality is, many strive for influence to get the sale, what can often be overlooked is that the most profitable influence happens after the sale, when customers have experienced results of your product or service. Influence without the Hype It’s true, there… -
7 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Google’s Personal Search
18 Jan 2012 | 9:10 amThere has been a lot of activity recently with our friends at Google. Last week they announced the rollout of Google Plus Your World. This is essentially a more elegant version of personal search, with a snazzy video (shown a bit later). Now that the dust has settled, the question marketers are asking is how to leverage this? What does it mean for SEO? It means a lot. We’ll cover that and share 7 things you can do now to make the most of Google’s recent changes. 7 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Google’s Personal Search The farm. Google is pretty much betting that on their… -
Say It With Me ‘I am a marketer’
10 Jan 2012 | 5:20 amLet’s agree on something right now. Internet Marketing is not simple. Principles exist, as with any business, but as a whole it’s not simple. What makes it ‘not’ simple? The first half of that phrase, Internet. Agreed? Good. Marketing is simple. Couple it with Internet, and things get complex in a hurry. You may not have world-class mad skills at copywriting, email marketing, blogging, video, social media marketing, SEO, PPC, or any other point technical Internet marketing skill, marketing alone still equals (=) simple. Say It With Me ‘I am a… -
Our Greatest Asset in the New Year
5 Jan 2012 | 10:04 amYou’ve likely read a handful of posts, tweets, and articles online when it comes to everything of the New Year. There are some really great nuggets out there. Which brings you here. What to do with all those fancy ideas? How to implement all those power tips? Don’t. What? Don’t. Don’t seek to implement many of those things, without focusing on the main thing. Your greatest asset. Well, that’s what I’m doing. Focusing on a skill. Well, skills that master all other skills. Skills that help marketers implement. Get more done. Fast. Let me share with you what I… -
This Year’s Top Content Awards Go To
30 Dec 2011 | 10:55 amHard to believe that another year is behind us. I recently was reviewing some Google analytics stats for this site to get ideas for content in the coming year, and saw some interesting trends. There were posts that were highly trafficked, some that were highly engaged by readers, but not all highly trafficked posts were highly engaged. I’ll get to these in a moment. Google analytics can provide valuable insights as to traffic, engagement, conversions, keywords, etc. but what it doesn’t do is clarify the experience of human visitor. What really matters is what you think as a…
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Seth's Blog
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Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)
9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 amIf I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might… -
How do they know you're not a flake?
8 Feb 2012 | 2:43 amBefore your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will… -
Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea
7 Feb 2012 | 2:09 amBut it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are… -
Who is your customer?
6 Feb 2012 | 2:26 amRule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect… -
In search of a timid trapeze artist
5 Feb 2012 | 2:01 amGood luck with that, there aren't any. If you hesitate when leaping from rope to another, you're not going to last very long. And this is at the heart of what makes innovation work in organizations, why industries die, and how painful it is to try to maintain the status quo while also participating in a revolution. Gather up as much speed as you can, find a path and let go. You can't get to the next rope if you're still holding on to this one.
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chrisbrogan.com
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Throw Away the Maps
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
The Next Social Networks
5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amThe rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for… -
Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform
3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amJacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the… -
Rob Gokee is a Musical Wizard
2 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amI had such a great experience working with award winning musical composer Rob Gokee. We did some musical work together, and the process was so amazing. Rob helped me create my theme song for Shhh! The Secret Show. So anyhow, he and I sat down to do an interview, and it’s a bit long, but it’s totally worth it. We talk about what collaboration feels like at a distance, what it takes to get music like this made for your own show, and a lot more. Rob’s a hero to me, and has been part of the community for a while. I was so fortunate to have worked with him. Can’t see the… -
Build Your Platform – Start
30 Jan 2012 | 1:30 amThe following is part ONE of a series called Build Your Platform. If you find it interesting, please consider subscribing for free to get the rest of the series. This post is long. You might want to bookmark it for later. The age of social media oversaturation is upon us. People are declaring Twitter bankruptcy to go along with their email bankruptcy. They cite not wanting to start on yet another social network as their reason for not getting more involved with Google+. And just as soon as you start getting into Pinterest, you hear about Path, but wait: there’s Gentlemint, which is…
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ReadWriteWeb
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Groupon's First Earnings Call Missed the Mark, But It May Not Matter
8 Feb 2012 | 9:28 pmToday in its quarterly earnings call, Groupon reported that it did not meet fourth quarter expectations. The company posted a $43 million loss, or $0.08 cents per share. Despite the loss, Groupon's revenue in the fourth quarter 2011 grew 194% to $506.5 million, up from $172.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. In fact, the fourth quarter 2011 was the company's first quarter of operating profitability since it opening international operations in the second quarter of 2010. This brings everyone back to the same question: Is the daily deals model a real, legitimate business, or is it just a… -
Daily Wrap: January's List of Apps You Need to See and more
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmDan Rowinski rounds up the best apps, in our opinion, of January 2012. This and more in today's Daily Wrap. Sometimes it's difficult to catch everything that hits tech media in a day, so we wrap up some of the most talked about stories. We give you a daily recap of what you missed in the ReadWriteWeb Community, including a link to some of the most popular discussions in our offsite communities on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ as well. Sponsor New iPhone, iPad and Android Apps for January 2012 In what is surely a labor of love, Dan Rowinski combs through the mass of apps released… -
Stop Saying "Finally"
8 Feb 2012 | 5:50 pmFIIIINALLY! Google released a Chrome beta for Android! GODDDDD. What took them so long? All the Ice Cream Sandwich users have been waiting, like, FOREVER! Finally, Tweetbot for iPad came out. I've only been asking them for, like, EIGHT MONTHS! Jeez. Apple fiiiinally released iTunes Match after a whole month, and it didn't even work right! Listen to how this sounds. How do we, the tech bloggers, get away with headlines like this? Where do users get off complaining impatiently about updates to a service that costs them $2.99? Or a free service? Let's have a reality check. Remember how awesome… -
10 Ways to Win Over Writers
8 Feb 2012 | 5:00 pmAs a PR person, product developer, CEO or whatever, you're probably more interested in getting noticed by the media than developing a relationship with a particular writer. That's one way to go about it. Then there's that old-fashioned "building a relationship with a real person not a robot" idea. You know, treating people like people and taking the time to get to know them. Oh right, yeah, forgot about that. Writers, like artists, are sensitive to ideas and people. But not every writer will get you or your product - and in the tech world as in any world, each writer has their own… -
Nginx Continues Growth, Adds Commercial Offerings
8 Feb 2012 | 4:30 pmAccording to the Netcraft Web Server Survey for February 2012, Nginx was "the only server to experience a non-negligible market share increase this month" by picking up 0.27 percentage points. Good news for the upstart Web server, just as the brand-new company behind Nginx takes the wraps off its commercial packages. Nginx has had quite the growth spurt over the past year. In February of last year Nginx had 7.57% of the market, or about 21 million domains hosted with Nginx. Microsoft had 20.04%, or about 57 million. Apache was at 60.10%, with more than 171 million domains. Sponsor…
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Smashing Magazine Feed
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Collaging: Getting Answers To The Questions You Don’t Know To Ask
6 Feb 2012 | 7:02 amWhen conducting user research, we all know that asking the right questions is just as important as how you ask them, but how do you know exactly what questions to ask? What if the discussion topic is very personal? How do you get a complete stranger to open up? There is a better way to conduct an in-depth interview, and it doesn’t involve a clipboard. Just imagine what you could discover if the participant’s answers weren’t limited to a predetermined set of questions. This is where collaging can help. Collaging is a projective technique by which participants select images… -
How To Use Custom Post Types To Organize Online Marketing Campaigns
3 Feb 2012 | 7:04 amCustom post types add a level of flexibility to WordPress that makes this open-source Web development platform more useful on many levels. Whenever I have been faced with a Web-based task, especially one that involves organizing information, the first thing I do is examine WordPress to determine if it can handle the job. It usually can. Image Source As an Internet marketer and analyst, I need to be able to organize online marketing campaigns in a way that is trackable in Google Analytics. This is the perfect task for WordPress custom post types. In this article, we’ll explain… -
Freebie: St. Valentine’s Day Icon Set (10 PNG/PSD Icons)
2 Feb 2012 | 7:38 amEvery now and then, we release useful freebies for all of our highly valued readers. Today, it is our pleasure to present to you Cuberto‘s fantastic St. Valentine’s icon set — exclusively designed for Smashing Magazine and its loyal readers. The icons presented are available in transparent PNGs as well as Photoshop PSDs (128×128 px) and are perfect for any projects you have coming up for St. Valentine’s Day. Enjoy! Download the Set for free! This icon set is completely free to use for commercial or personal applications without any… -
Ten Things To Think About When Designing Your iPad App
31 Jan 2012 | 9:03 amLike most well-designed things, the magic of an iPad app comes from a union of usefulness, usability and meaning. Games aside, the app must be useful by solving a problem that people actually have through the right set of functionality at the right time. It must be easy to use and, just as importantly, easy to get started using, without a lot of pesky setup and learning steps. And it must hold meaning for the user through visual beauty, an emotional connection, personal insights, etc. In this article, we won’t outline the entire design process for creating an iPad app, but we… -
Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: February 2012
31 Jan 2012 | 5:48 amWe always try our best to challenge your artistic abilities and produce some interesting, beautiful and creative artwork. And as designers we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one — desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. This creativity mission has been going on for over two years now, and we are very thankful to all designers who have contributed and are still diligently contributing each month. We continue to nourish you with a monthly spoon of inspiration. This post features…
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Marketing Donut feed
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Google vs Facebook - where the real battle lines are drawn
9 Feb 2012 | 1:42 amSince Google launched their Google + social network in June 2011 a lot has been written about whether it will be able to rival Facebook as a real alternative. Many people make a big deal of the numbers. While Facebook currently has somewhere in the region of 800 million users globally, Google + has around 65million. If a social network is only as valuable as the users it has, then clearly Google + has some way to go before it becomes as useful or as important as Facebook. However, to come to this conclusion is to completely miss the point. Google did not launch it’s Google + social network… -
Seven things to do to make your 2012 sales great!
8 Feb 2012 | 1:53 am1. Work out your numbers First of all, in order to prepare to have a great 2012, you need to know what numbers you need to hit. This will either be a sales target figure or a revenue/profitability figure. You also need to work out your average order value (or average profit if you’re targeted on profitability figures), and then work out how many orders you need to hit that target. Don’t be one of those people that says “I don’t have an average order, my orders are all different!” Simply take your revenue/profit total from last year and divide by number of orders. 2. Anticipate… -
Pensions auto-enrolment delayed until 2017
7 Feb 2012 | 2:49 amBusiness groups have welcomed the Government’s decision to delay the pensions auto-enrolment date for small firms by two years. Following an announcement by the Department for Work and Pensions, firms with fewer than 30 employees now have until 1 April 2017 to complete their auto-enrolment process for staff, instead of 1 April 2015. Newly established businesses must enrol their staff by 1 February 2018, while larger firms with 250 or more staff must begin enrolment this October. Pensions minister Steve Webb said that the revised timetable would make it easier for small firms to comply with… -
Local market campaign won’t help high street long-term, say retail groups
7 Feb 2012 | 2:49 amA Government-backed scheme to encourage new traders to set up market stalls in their local town has been criticised by business groups. The Love Your Local Market campaign will see budding retailers turn up on the day and pay a reduced price of £10 to rent a market stall – fees for a pitch are typically around £20 – as well as get tips and trading advice from seasoned traders or ‘market mentors’. The initiative will run for a fortnight in markets across England between 23 June and 8 July and is being backed by council-run markets and private market groups. It is the first response… -
Enterprise calendar highlights key dates for small firms in 2012
7 Feb 2012 | 2:47 amSmall firms can quickly check upcoming business events in 2012, following the launch of a free online business calendar by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Hosted on the StartUp Britain website, StartUp 2012: The Enterprise Calendar offers users searchable details of more than 600 national and local events from festivals and workshops, to conferences and networking events. “Enterprise events don’t just take place on one day, or during one week, but they appear throughout the year and across the country,” said small business minister, Mark Prisk. “We need to…
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JupiterJasper
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The work it takes to make something simple
13 Jan 2012 | 6:50 am(Cartoons below) Your business life can tick along making a certain kind of sense. You put in the hours, you fiddle with all the knobs to keep the business going. Then suddenly a series of seemingly unrelated mini events collide to make you change your mind. (Possibly the number of mini events is related to how long it takes you to realise you need to do something to change NOW. Hey, that has a ‘recession’ ring to it. Who knew?) Most recently, I’ve decided to change JupiterJasper’s direction. Not the original purpose -that is still quite clear. But the way the purpose… -
It happens to everyone.
9 Dec 2011 | 3:45 amI get emotionally involved with Client’s business. There. I said it. I can’t help it. I get excited about their business as if it were mine, and I do everything I can to make sure what I contribute is the best it can possibly be. That means that I often do far more than I am paid for, and often means that what I have done isn’t noticed. But I know. I can see where it matters, and I do it for the result rather than the recognition. I guess that is the difference between doing a job and doing something passionately. I take a lot of pride in what I do. Which is why it makes… -
What is a big idea anyway? 10 examples to inspire.
8 Nov 2011 | 8:11 amSomewhere along the line you’ve probably encountered someone that told you that you need a big idea or to think bigger about your marketing and your business. What is remarkable is how much marketing there is out there that doesn’t really say much of anything, let alone convey a big idea. And by marketing, I don’t just mean advertising, I mean anything a business does to convey what it is about and stands for – even the invoice. And copying your competitor’s big idea doesn’t count. A big idea is the bridge that makes an emotional connection between what… -
Marketing lesson: follow the plan
8 Sep 2011 | 4:29 amThe 6th of our blog competition guest posts – Samantha Jones of the HomeTruths shows that success is at the end of completing the plan. The original guidelines for entry are here, read all the featured entries, you could also read about how we chose the winner, or what we learned from running the blogging competition. Cheating at bootcamp? Not me! I recently attended a month-long fitness ‘boot camp’; you know the kind of thing: lots of exercise, clean eating plan and a very scary instructor (thanks Jo!) to keep you on your plan. Halfway through the month, I had a social occasion… -
Retail sales staff stalking
8 Sep 2011 | 4:19 amI’ve realised that I’ve become a retail sales staff stalker. I’m obsessed with how much better the experience of shopping in a retail store can be. From a professional point of view as a marketer – there is the obvious benefit of happier customers buying more, and in an effort to build a sustainable business, surely happier trained staff and slicker processes should all make for stronger businesses. The natural sales woman I was suddenly aware of my retail sales staff stalking when I realised that the only reason I was still browsing in Accessories Staines, was because…
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OPEN Forum Articles
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When You Can't Fire Someone for Arson
8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmFrom Courtney Rubin: The city of Erie, Pennsylvania, must pay nearly $207,000 to a firefighter who a court ruled was wrongly dismissed following a 2006 suicide attempt in which she set clothes on fire in a bathtub. An eight-person federal jury unanimously ruled that the city of Erie violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired Mary Wolski in April 2007. Wolski was distraught over her mother's 2005 death from a staph infection and set the small fire at her father's vacant home, hoping the smoke would kill her. At the time–December 28, 2006–she was being treated by a… -
Cultivate In-House Geniuses to Inspire Innovation
8 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pmFrom Anita Campbell: When we think of innovation in today’s business world, one of the first companies that comes to mind is Apple. How can your small business innovate like Apple? It might be easier than you think. Creating your own team of “geniuses” would be a good start. If you’ve ever been to an Apple store, you’ve probably visited the Genius Bar—the place where Apple experts share their knowledge to help you get the most from your Apple product. The idea behind the Apple Geniuses—that by learning from others, we can do more—applies… -
Connecting Minority-Owned Businesses to Corporate and Government Money
8 Feb 2012 | 11:00 amFrom James O'Brien: When it comes to running a small business, experts say that nothing replaces hard work, dedication and a smart idea at the core of things. But for business owners in a minority demographic, there's some extra leverage that can come with certification. The advantage, according to certificate-supplying organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council, is that Asian, black, Hispanic and Native American business owners can be matched with services, programs, and sources of work and revenue. "Certification can… -
Job Growth: Temporary Staffing Is on the Rise
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 amFrom Anthony Sills: With the economy still in the dumps, the staffing industry says it has added more jobs than any other sector. When the economy is bad, temporary workers are the first to be let go. When the economy improves, temporary jobs account for much of the growth. So, is it boom time for the staffing industry? Yes, says Steven P. Berchem, CEO of the American Staffing Association. Barchem, author of a respected annual economic analysis of the staffing industry, has plenty of insight into the growth. “U.S. staffing firms created more new jobs than any other industry," Berchem… -
3 Basic Tips for Closing the Deal on Your Next Construction Job
8 Feb 2012 | 9:30 amFrom Jennifer Gregory: A large part of acquiring new contracts in the construction business is knowing how to work with homeowners, both before they hire you and during the project. When meeting with people to discuss a potential job, the way that you talk with them and present yourself can make a huge impact on whether or not you get the job. Jody Costello, consumer advocate and pre-renovation coach, guides homeowners through the renovation and building process and says that the main reason that someone chooses a contractor is the “like and trust” factor. “When a contractor…
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@ProBlogger
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How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support
8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amThis guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned… -
Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger: Part 2
7 Feb 2012 | 12:05 pmThis guest post is by Devesh of WP Kube. A few months ago, I wrote a guest post here called How to Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger. Today, I’ll go into some more detailed advice to help you speed up your site even more. If you’re a blogger, you already know about the importance of blog loading speed, and the role it plays in search engine rank and marketing your blog. But if this is new territory for you, here are three quick reasons why you need to speed up your blog: Google includes website loading speed as an important metric in their ranking algorithm. If you want… -
How I Beat my Best Month Ever by Doing Something Good, Better [Case Study]
7 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amMid-December 2010: on my photography site, we launched a new campaign—our first ever 12 Days of Christmas promotion. The result was my biggest month of earnings ever up to that point. The idea was simple: offer discounts on 12 products over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I used a mix of my own ebooks and products from other photography sites with affiliate commissions. The result was massive. Not only did we see some great revenue generated, it created some lovely buzz on the site. Due to the success of the 2010 campaign, in mid-December 2011 we launched our second 12 Days of… -
Six Steps to Make Sure Your Site Is Ready to Go Viral
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amThis guest post is by Nancy Sathre-Vogel of Family on Bikes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Surely Google Analytics was confusing my site with another, way more popular site. There was no way my visitor numbers could be so high! And yet they were. One of my posts had taken off and was spreading like wildfire. Those viral post phenomena that happen to others were now happening to me. The first day, 17,000 visitors came to my website. The next day we topped out at 56,000. Readers were coming in droves. It was exciting. It was exhilarating. My site, viral! Wow! And then I took a… -
How to Handle Criticism: a Practical Guide
5 Feb 2012 | 12:03 pmImage by Stuart RichardsAs bloggers, each of us has to deal with criticism. Blogging is a very public activity—almost all of us has the goal of gaining readers to our blogs—and the more people you reach, the more likely it is that you’ll hear criticisms. “You’re wrong…” “How can you say that? You don’t know what you’re talking about.” “I couldn’t disagree more…” “This is the last time I read this blog!” These are just some of the criticisms bloggers regularly face—I’ve received versions of…
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Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
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SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 8, 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 2:23 pmBelow is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Testing New Search Results Design Bing is testing a new design for the search results layout. The new design seems a lot cleaner, fresher and more organized... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. -
Bing Testing New Search Results Design
8 Feb 2012 | 1:43 pmBing is testing a new design for the search results layout. The new design seems a lot cleaner, fresher and more organized compared to the older design. Jason Hart tipped us off listing out the key differences: Vertical tabs removed Top and bottom search boxes widened Search button icon changed... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. -
How To Make Unstructured Data Actionable In Display
8 Feb 2012 | 11:05 amI wrote recently about the new era of display marketing, and how real time bidding and other advances are bringing the precision and performance of search advertising to display. Well…a new era of unstructured data is also upon us. A widely cited 2011 IDC study found that the amount of data in the... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. -
Survey: People Largely Negative About Google’s Personalized Search Results
8 Feb 2012 | 10:48 amEarlier this month market research tool provider Ask Your Target Market surveyed 400 US adults about their attitudes toward personalized search on Google. The results were reported today in eMarketer’s email newsletter. We went back to the source to check out the survey and discovered that... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article. -
Why Does Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Hate Rick Santorum?
8 Feb 2012 | 9:14 amUS presidential candidate Rick Santorum pulled off a surprise last night, winning caucuses and primaries in three states. So what’s with Bing listing an anti-Santorum web site first in its results in a search for his last name? Does Microsoft have some type of liberal agenda! Wait, you... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
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TEDTalks (video)
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TED: Sheikha Al Mayassa: Globalizing the local, localizing the global - Sheikha Al Mayassa (2010)
8 Feb 2012 | 8:28 amSheikha Al Mayassa, a patron of artists, storytellers and filmmakers in Qatar, talks about how art and culture create a country's identity -- and allow every country to share its unique identity with the wider world. As she says: "We don't want to be all the same, but we do want to understand each other." -
TED: Stephen Coleman: The moral dangers of non-lethal weapons - Stephen Coleman (2011)
7 Feb 2012 | 8:08 amPepper spray and tasers are in increasing use by both police and military, and more exotic non-lethal weapons such as heat rays are in the works. At TEDxCanberra, ethicist Stephen Coleman explores the unexpected consequences of their introduction and asks some challenging questions. -
TED: Neil Burgess: How your brain tells you where you are - Neil Burgess (2011)
6 Feb 2012 | 7:58 amHow do you remember where you parked your car? How do you know if you're moving in the right direction? Neuroscientist Neil Burgess studies the neural mechanisms that map the space around us, and how they link to memory and imagination. -
TED: Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus - Mike deGruy (2010)
4 Feb 2012 | 12:14 amUnderwater filmmaker Mike deGruy has spent decades looking intimately at the ocean. A consummate storyteller, he takes the stage at Mission Blue to share his awe and excitement -- and his fears -- about the blue heart of our planet. -
TED: Danny Hillis: Back to the future (of 1994) - Danny Hillis (1994)
3 Feb 2012 | 8:06 amFrom deep in the TED archive, Danny Hillis outlines an intriguing theory of how and why technological change seems to be accelerating, by linking it to the very evolution of life itself. The presentation techniques he uses may look dated, but the ideas are as relevant as ever.
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TechCrunch
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Clusterpoint Secures €1m From BaltCap To Scale Its Database For Clouds
9 Feb 2012 | 4:44 amBaltCap, a leading venture investor in startups in the Baltics region, has signed a €1 million investment in Clusterpoint, an enterprise software startup created by Latvian programmers and backed by seed investors in the UK and Baltics. Clusterpoint has built a database platform designed for cloud computing infrastructure which they claim is highly scalable. They are competing against open source solutions such as MongoDB. -
Live from Riga – TechCrunch Baltics meetup #TCBaltics
9 Feb 2012 | 3:37 amWe’re running the first ever TechCrunch Baltics meetup today with a mini-conference and pitch contest in the lovely city of Riga, Latvia. The Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are tiny countries, but punch above their weight in terms of their technical prowess. Estonia in particular was made famous as being the base from which Skype was developed, and now the rest of the region is coming alive with startups and accelerators. You can find the agenda here. Up to 8 selected Baltic startups will pitch to a jury and audience that includes many key investors in the region and… -
Montblanc Takes Google To Court To Obtain Identity Of, And Sue, Counterfeit Advertisers
9 Feb 2012 | 2:21 amGoogle has been going to great lengths to keep advertisers who sell counterfeit goods online out of its AdWords program, but as far as Montblanc, the Germany-based maker of ‘writing instruments’, watches, jewelry and whatnot, is concerned, they ought to be doing more. Montblanc-Simplo GmbH, as the holding is called, is taking Google to court in an effort to obtain the identity of a certain – or more – persistent counterfeit goods seller(s). TechCrunch has obtained the court documents, which make for an interesting read. Montblanc says it has received numerous… -
Remember Netvibes? It’s Finally Acquired By Engineering Giant Dassault Systèmes
8 Feb 2012 | 11:48 pmIt’s been a long and winding road since Tariq Krim created and eventually left Netvibes, but today Netvibes has been acquired by huge French engineering giant Dassault Systèmes for an undisclosed amount. Krim continues to pursue his original dream of organising the social web on Jolicloud. -
Analytics Dashboard Netvibes Sold To Dassault Systèmes
8 Feb 2012 | 11:06 pmNetvibes has just been acquired by European product design company Dassault Systèmes (sure this isn’t the type of thing I usually write, but I like the founder Tariq Krim so bear with me here … ). French startup Netvibes is a sentiment analytics dashboard that allows Fortune 500 companies to track their social media presence throughout the realtime web. Dassault is a “3D experience” design company — which lets designers virtualize how products will work in the real world — so the acquisition actually seems jarring at first, but Netvibes CEO Freddy Mini…
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Mashable!
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Google Chrome Update Brings Faster Browsing
9 Feb 2012 | 1:12 amThe new stable release of Google’s web browser Chrome brings several improvements, most importantly faster browsing and more protection from malicious downloads. From now on, when you start typing in Chrome’s address box (or omnibox, as Google calls it), as soon as Chrome autocompletes the URL you’re likely to visit, it will prerender the page, making your overall browsing experience faster. As far as security goes, Chrome now does checks on executable files you’ve downloaded from the net. It matches the executables against a whitelist – a list of programs known… -
‘Bachelor’ Contestant Courtney Gets Auto-Tuned [VIDEO]
8 Feb 2012 | 9:19 pmFans of The Bachelor are all too familiar with this season’s over-the-top contestant Courtney, who makes snide comments at the camera and likes to take off her bikini top. Now, a video has popped up on YouTube that has turned some of her signature phrases — from “Winning!” to “I do modeling” — into a catchy Auto-Tune clip. The contestants are vying for a rose from winemaker Ben, and Courtney has rubbed many of them the wrong way, and this video shows why. This is not the first time YouTube users have turned pop culture moments into Auto-Tuned videos. -
Facebook Talks About Social Games and Mobile Apps for 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 9:09 pmFacebook revealed its roadmap for social games and mobile apps for the rest of the year at the Inside Social Apps 2012 conference on Wednesday in San Francisco — and it’s good news for app developers. Want to create an app for Facebook’s Open Graph? The mobile space presents a huge opportunity to create cross-platform social games, said Carl Sjogreen, director of product management at Facebook, who spoke to a packed conference center filled with IT insiders about Facebook’s projections for the mobile social gaming and app space for this year. “You sort of had to… -
What Digital Non-Profits Can Learn From Companies Like Google
8 Feb 2012 | 8:46 pmDaniel Atwood works with organizations in the social sector to craft meaningful experiences for customers and constituents, and to find innovative product, campaign and messaging ideas in unexpected places. We live in a world where new digital products are solving problems daily — from managing our finances to remembering the groceries. Often, they’re solving problems we didn’t know we had, like the need to connect several times a day in 140 characters or less. Occasionally, they’re creating new problems (but that’s a topic for another conversation). What… -
Comment and Highlight on Websites with commentto
8 Feb 2012 | 8:30 pmThe Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: commentto Quick Pitch: Comment anywhere. Genius Idea: Commentto is a browser add-on service that allows users to highlight, bookmark, comment, save and share bookmarks and excerpts on websites. Do you ever want to add extra knowledge to a news story or other content on the web? Well, browser add-on commentto lets you comment on anything you want. Commentto allows users to highlight…
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Inspired Magazine
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Spread the Graphic Love with Valentine Design Goodies
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmCheck out the hottest web design goods curated by our pals at WebDesignGoodies - this time with a Valentine twist! Here’s a neat collection of recent freebies, themes, graphic elements and other goodies. Feel free to contribute in the comments as well! All You Need Is Love Vintage Poster/Flyer Template (only $6) 100% original lettering composition (calligramme) made from the name of song, written by John Lennon. Our poster is mix of modern typography and retro 1969`s feel. Don’t you want somebody to love?! It will be useful for St. Valentines day vintage parties, as invitation for… -
6 Ways Google+ Can Win you More Clients
7 Feb 2012 | 4:19 amThis is a guest post by Alex Mathers, founder of Red Lemon Club, a self-taught illustrator and writer who believes that any freelancer passionate about work they are good at deserves to create a successful and thriving career from it. Alex recently released an extremely useful online course titled The Freelancer’s Guide to Winning Incredible Clients through Google+ Mastery Google’s latest addition to the ‘social’ world, in the form of social networking platform Google+, appears to have divided people on how useful and how valuable it actually is. What it has so far shown, is a… -
40 Websites That Look Great in Blue
6 Feb 2012 | 6:49 amIt seems these days that many designers automatically settle on the main color in their website’s palette automatically: white. Every other color is just an accent to that. Today, we look at 40 websites that used a bolder color to base their design on — in this case, blue. It’s harder to pull off a web design that is based on a bold color — the relative safety of a plain old white background is easy to work with. These designers have made it work, though, and this means they can design sites that deliver greater branding benefits using the psychology of color. Check… -
Infographics of the Week #22
4 Feb 2012 | 6:58 amAs you may know by now, Inspired Magazine is a sucker for data visualization. That’s why we invited Tony Shin – a social media ninja and creative design samurai – to curate the weekly dose of infographics. If you like them as much as we do check out some of the older editions and follow Tony on Twitter and Facebook as well! 1. Where is Your Brand in the Social Media Lifecycle? Inspired by the White Paper, Ubervu put together this infographic that highlights a complete package of how to track your social media success. As social media continues to evolve, many businesses are… -
HOW TO: Create a Killer Music Video
3 Feb 2012 | 6:34 amJoe Childress & Jonathan Combs have been creating visual projects together since 2008. They have collaborated on commercials, animated shorts, viral videos and several other forms of visual stimulation. They both currently reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and find anytime they can to create. Step 1. Find a previous American Idol contestant who made the top 24 and wants a music video. After the music video Joe Childress & Jonathan Combs (that’s us!) directed for Tim Halperin’s “She Runs” climbed to 100,00 views in July 2010, we were hungry to make…
