Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Marketing and Social Technology

Buzz Friday for August 24, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across social media and new marketing this week. If there is anything that you would like to see in this post or if you have something you think is Buzz-worthy please drop me an email or leave a comment on this post. I want to make this as beneficial for you as I can.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• If you like the iPhone, but not AT&T you may be in luck. A group of developers has seemingly unlocked the iPhone. Check out this article on Engadget.
  
• YouTube announced in-video overlay ads this week to much discussion, debate and outright anger from some users. They've since announced that ads will be optional and controlled by content creators.
  
• WalMart is on Facebook....yes I am serious here. Jeremiah has a good first look at what is happening there.
  
• People are still having fun with Microsoft's Zune and the rumors that they're releasing a phone too.
  
  
  
• Do you like bacn? Bacn is the newest hot slang floating around the Net. Basically it means all of the email that you get from social networking sites that you want to read, but wish wasn't in your inbox. More here.
  
• Google may work to create a NYC mass transit guide reports Bloomberg.
  
• Many companies are banning Facebook as office productivity sags. I personally like Neville Hobson's take on it "don't just ban Facebook, provide guidance".
  
• The NY Times launched MyTimes. Is this too little way too late? Seems like it should have come out 6 years ago.
  
• Tired of shopping online by yourself? Visit CrowdStorm and shop in a community of users.
  
• Rumors of a Google phone + CEO talking about "probably" bidding on new wireless spectrum = confused, but possibly excited public.
  
• Patrick Schaber at Lonely Marketer had amazing coverage of SES San Jose last week. Check it out if you want to catch up and see what happened. This post on image marketing was particularly nice.
  
• Are you still pitching bloggers with the same old generic email or press release? Want to pitch bloggers the right way? Take BL Ochman's great advice.
  
• Are you starting a new company blog? Do you want to get a lot of subscribers right off the bat? Tap your client list and optimize your content offering as Brian Clark suggests.
  
• Twitter is finally rolling out some real value-add enhancements. Check out the people search on the main page.
  
• Adobe's new Flash player will support HD video. This will hurt services like Joost, et. al. who were counting on p2p delivery or other non-traditional delivery of video.
  
• MTV, Real and Verizon have joined forces to offer up a new music service. Does this sound like a good move to anybody out there? Real is dead, MTV's audience is on iTunes more than any other group and Verizon isn't innovating anything.
  
• Scott Weisbrod points out a new Forrester report on the death of the traditional marketing funnel. I agree with David Armano that their illustration is confusing and like his much better.
  
• Google's added map embedding now so you can copy a map into a website or blog with very little technical assistance.
  
• Rohit @ Influential Interactive Marketing has a great post on how to sell social media to your boss. Anybody have any other tactics?
  
• Zoho Writer has used Google Gears to offer offline support. This is going to happen more and more as people take the online apps offline.
  
• US-based social net Bebo will offer Windows Live Messenger as its sole IM solution.
  
• Wanna kick it old school with a mix tape? How about Mix Tape USB?
  
• I wish Starbucks would do this. Dominos Pizza is accepting pizza orders via SMS in the UK.
  
• Nokia's killer N95 phone looks to be coming to the US.
  
• Christopher Carfi at the Social Customer Manifesto has a nice presentation about business blogging.
  
• What did you learn from Skype's outage? Some people benefitted.
  
• If you want to get out of your Verizon contract, you will have to actually die. Faking your death will not cut it.
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Skype [remaining buzz from service collapse]
   
2. Geni
   
3. CrazyEgg [boosted from controversy with YouTube ad format]
   
4. Slide [Facebook applications keeping them high on the chart]
   
5. blip.tv
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Search Engine Guide
   
6. Diva Marketing
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Daily Fix
   
9. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
10. Converstations
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from the AdAge Power 150

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Pronet Advertising
   
3. Micro Persuasion
   
4. Copyblogger
   
5. Search Engine Watch
   
6. Search Engine Land
   
7. Adrants
   
8. Online Marketing Blog
   
9. Adverblog
   
10. Publishing 2.0
    
11. PSFK
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Cheney '94
   
2. Insane Wave pool in Tokyo
   
3. Gregorious: NMKY
   
4. Content Aware Image Sizing
   
5. Stop SPP Protest
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for August 17, 2007 (double issue)

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• Skype, the popular VoIP service owned by eBay, suffered a major outage yesterday. The outage even coincided with a dip in eBay's stock price. Connection? Oddly I heard about this from Twitter then blogs then Skype in that order with about 10 hours between the Tweet and Skype's response.
  
• If you're thinking about buying a new iPod, hold off says Engadget. I would agree with this.
  
• Bebo is the king of social networks in the UK. Keep an eye out for an Inside//Out post on Bebo next week.
  
• It's my bill in a box. It seems AT&T is sending physical paper bills that detail all of the text messages their customers send and receive. This has resulted in many forests being chopped down as iJustine found out.
  
• David Reich has a humorous look at a new move to regulate PR through a certificate. His point, there are bigger fish to fry.
  
• Faris Yakob points to a funny clip around the Sony Bravia campaign. You have to have seen the previous ad to get it, but if you did you know just what this guy is talking about.
  
• Looking to build your own social network? Check out this list of 34 options.
  
• A recent NPD study shows that mobile phone sales have increase 14% in the US. Are you thinking about your mobile strategy?
  
• Ever wonder why your Feedburner stats fluctuate from day to day? Check out the explanation straight from the source. Via ProBlogger.
  
• Saatchi's starting a new agency called 'one word equity', check out Karl Long's take.
  
• The iPhone's popularity has led one mobile advertising company to create a new ad unit just for it.
  
• Adobe's rumored to be creating a new suite of office apps to compete with Microsoft using their AIR framework. Office Live needs to pick up the pace.
  
• The best way to learn to design websites is by copying others. Jimdo makes that process super easy.
  
• Yahoo is FINALLY starting to leverage their unique properties to compete with Google. The new Yahoo Local uses Flickr and Upcoming.org information to paint a better picture.
  
• Mario Sundar offers a new model for social media. Just follow the LAMP.
  
• iPhone and Facebook combine for a smooth, refined version of what the future of mobile sites should be. I tried this on a friend's phone and it's really cool.
  
• Looking for ways to network more effectively at conferences? Check out the SEOmoz recommendations.
  
• Seth has some interesting insights on opposites. Very thought provoking.
  
• David Berkowitz gets his LinkedIn questions answered and LinkedIn shows how to recover from an initially poor service contact. (Still no comments from them on my Inside//Out post.)
  
• Some pundits claim Facebook is opening up, but Justin Smith of the blog Inside Facebook disagrees. I tend to agree with him.
  
• Greg Verdino reminds us that branding is what our fans say, not what we say. Check out his insightful post here.
  
• AOL is making a move in mobile with a relaunched search.
  
• Jeremiah notes a Lewis PR survey in which 90% of marketing departments are planning to launch a social media campaign in 2008.
  
• New social network Yappd launched recently and claims to be a Twitter/Flickr mix. Look for a lot more of this kind of integration in the next quarter.
  
• The status of virtual worlds are, as I've said before, like the web was in the mid-90's. Nick Wilson agrees. Tangerine Toad thinks they're mostly a waste right now for marketing, but notes there are other uses that are powerful. Doug Meacham has a well thought out post on why marketers are failing in some cases. This debate will rage on.
  
• Via Amber MacArthur, check out this fun video of Connected Ventures letting off some steam.
  
• If you're going to create a mobile site, it's important to develop mobile-only content. Discovery networks gets it.
  
• TechCrunch reports that NBC's ClownCo received a $1 billion valuation and it still doesn't have a name. Seems pretty silly to me.
  
• The NY Times is the latest publication to jump on the user-generated content bandwagon and let people submit photos.
  
• Google released an API for their Docs utility.
  
• PSFK has a look at what businesses think of consumer reviews using Yelp as an example.
  
• Check out Luc's excellent post on what impact the Age of Conversation ebook has on reality.
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Kaboodle
   
2. Vimeo
   
3. PageFlakes
   
4. Instructables
   
5. Revver
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Search Engine Guide
   
6. What's Next
   
7. Daily Fix
   
8. Diva Marketing
   
9. Converstations
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from the AdAge Power 150

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Copyblogger
   
3. Micro Persuasion
   
4. Adrants
   
5. Pronet Advertising
   
6. Search Engine Land
   
7. Online Marketing Blog
   
8. Marketing Pilgrim
   
9. tompeters!
   
10. PSFK
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Cheney '94
   
2. Battle at Kruger
   
3. Post Secret
   
4. UFO Haiti
   
5. Thriller
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for August 3, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• Do you wonder how powerful Google's search is? They recently "tweaked" their search algorithm and it caused a 28% drop in traffic to About.com.
  
• The DIY Network is running a series called Blog Cabin where people could log on to a site and basically help design a log cabin through blog software. Four million votes have been tallied so far. Very innovative on DIY's part.
  
• Google is using the power of crowdsourcing in non-US countries to build map dat points. Why not use the locals for the local stuff? Makes sense to me.
  
• TubeMogul is a brilliant new service that I am using to simultaneously publish the video that I am creating here to (as of right now) 9 different video sites. This saves me at least an hour of follow up.
  
• If you have a MySpace profile, Tom is probably your friend. The new site DropTom lets you set a new default user instead of poor ole' Tom.
  
• Marcus Brown (aka Sacrum), my fellow Age of Conversation author, has started a new idea company called The Ides of March with a very cool model. He'll take on any problem for you and you pay him what you think it's worth. If you don't like the idea, he gets to blog it to his readers. He's a brilliant guy so what's to lose?
  
• A new virtual world competitor to Second Life is ready in Multiverse. Look for lots more.
  
• Social network Plaxo is rumored to be releasing their new version on Monday to compete more with LinkedIn and Facebook.
  
• Yahoo is revamping their video site to compete with YouTube. Better hurry guys!
  
• Video service Veoh is partnering with the NCAA for a branded content channel.
  
• Are you planning a conference that needs speakers? Check out David Berkowitz's 12 tips for pitching to help you out.
  
• C.B. Whittemore warns why competing on price is a losing battle.
  
• Vodafone pulled advertising from Facebook after it was seen on the group page of a racist political party in the UK. Makes you wonder how targeted FB ads are anyways.
  
• CBS mobile is covering their bases forming partnerships with four major mobile ad companies.
  
• Feedburner is allowing publishers to create self-serve ads through their network similar to Google AdSense.
  
• In what is sure to be the first of many such scenarios, Facebook has closed its audio sharing service to prevent RIAA lawsuits.
  
• If you have an iPhone and travel overseas beware. This guy had a $3000 cell phone bill.
  
• Technokitten has a nice post on mobile gaming and her top 20 trends for the space.
  
• Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, have banned gambling per FBI reviews.
  
• Do you have some advice for people coming out of college? Head over to Ryan's blog and leave your best thoughts.
  
• The LA Fire Department has started Twittering to get information out.
  
• Jason Calacanis has declared Facebook bankruptcy on his blog. I would too if I had 500 people join in.
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. vSocial
   
2. Vimeo
   
3. Odeo
   
4. Twitter
   
5. Frappr
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden - No change from last week

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Diva Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Converstations
   
9. Church of the Customer
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd Andrlik - There is lots more competition on the Power150 since Todd partnered with AdAge.

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Copyblogger
   
3. Micro Persuasion
   
4. Pronet Advertising
   
5. Adrants
   
6. Search Engine Land
   
7. Online Marketing Blog
   
8. Duct Tape Marketing
   
9. Marketing Pilgrim
   
10. tompeters!
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Thriller - still holding strong
   
2. Chocolate Rain - a joke with staying power
   
3. Dark Knight Official Teaser
   
4. Rhain Davis at Manchester United
   
5. Iron Man - Comic-Con preview
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

You can watch this and other Techno//Marketer videos on your video channel of choice:

   
   

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for July 27, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• The value/monetization conversation in social media is staying front and center. CC Chapman has a very thoughtful post on the subject today which I encourage you to check out. Also check Mack's take on this subject. Both use Joseph Jaffe's iPhone for an episode example. More on this from me on Monday. Check my thoughts in the video.
  
• A new Reuter's report shows that young people don't see tech, it's integrated and seamless for them. That's the way it is for me. The more technology disappears the more valuable it becomes.
  
• Are you thinking about mobile? You should. Verizon's reported that in June alone, 10 billion text messages were sent and received.
  
• Todd Andrlik's Power 150 marketing blogs list has joined forces with AdAge. Congrats to Todd for your hard work and dedication and to Ad Age for recognizing the value of this community of thought leaders.
  
• The results of David Armano's UX guru poll are in. You can check them out here.
  
• Sean @ Craphammer goes all out (that's a really bad choice of words) to promote the Age of Conversation book. Check his hilarious video here.
  
• Iain Tait @ CrackUnit has a post on his seven deadly sins of digital (I can think of plenty more, but this is a good start).
  
• Twitter received an undisclosed amount of VC funding to enhance the service.
  
• The biggest thing holding back Pownce at this point is the lack of developer integration. TechCrunch reports an open AI could be coming at some point.
  
• Absolut vodka has a great new promotion to help out hurricane Katrina victims with their Absolut New Orleans flavor.
  
• Are you confused by SEO terms? Do you yearn to know what a 301 redirect is? Here is a quick glossary to help you out courtesy of SEOMoz.
  
• ESPN will launch their new venture in mobile content with EXPN on Verizon and MediaFlo.
  
• Joost is still in beta, but claims they will have 1 million users at their year-end launch. Personally, I've forgotten about the service and I'd be interested to see what percentage of those users are active.
  
• Check out Greg Verdino's post about the re-purposing of 30 second spots. Using an existing ad online in a rich media ad is a lazy way to create web content. Don't think this an integrated campaign makes.
  
• Verizon is the first to offer direct to YouTube video uploads. This would have been nice to see on the iPhone, but ironically it doesn't record video. Baffling.
  
• Facebook's looking to monetize as evidenced by their new CFO, the former YouTube CFO.
  
• Mack Collier points to Mario Sundar's post about comment rating platform SezWho. Are we ready for this or is this one more reason to keep new ideas from coming forward? People already don't comment and other people will comment no matter what.
  
• Want to find more ways to collaborate online with groups of people? Check Mashable's list of over 60 apps.
  
• The Simpsons Movie has a great little site for promotion called "SimpsonizeMe". Below is what I would look like as a character on the show. Try it out, you know you've always wanted to.
  

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Upcoming
   
2. VidLife
   
3. Rollyo
   
4. Pando
   
5. ZippyVideo
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Diva Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Converstations
   
9. Church of the Customer
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd Andrlik - The Power 150 was acquired by AdAge. Read more here.

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Copyblogger
   
3. Pronet Advertising
   
4. Adrants
   
5. Micro Persuasion
   
6. Search Engine Land
   
7. Online Marketing Blog
   
8. Duct Tape Marketing
   
9. Marketing Pilgrim
   
10. tompeters!
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Thriller
   
2. Beyonce falls down steps
   
3. Internet data lost
   
4. El Nino predicador
   
5. Paul sings opera
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for July 20, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• Joe Jaffe started a firestorm in his podcast Across The Sound when he offered to allow a company to sponsor his podcast in trade for an iPhone. Mack Collier picked up and ran with it. Check the video for my take.
  
• Valeria offers up a couple nice points on Facebook and other networks. I think there is a twist to this though. Check the video.
  
• Becky Carroll has a fantastic primer on what user experience is. This is a must-read in my mind. David Armano is polling his readers about the top names in user experience.
  
• BL Ochman had a really nice post on the "real value" of social networks. Her point (and mine as well) is that these networks are helping to build real relationships, share knowledge and improve our lives little by little. There is a lot going on in social media which makes it exciting and challenging. If you feel overwhelmed, just back off a bit.
  
• Greg Verdino gets my award for best photo on a blog post. His point is something I preach all the time. To truly uinderstand social media and marketing with it, you have to use it. What are you waiting for? Jump in!
  
• Sean Scott at 15 minutes bought a copy of the Age of Conversation and really hit the nail on the head in his post 'Is your company structured right?". Let's build on this momentum and affect change!
  
• EBay's getting in on the Facebook movement.
  
• My latest Commercial Worthy post is up at The Madison Avenue Journal. What do you think?
  
• Mark's got an great take on what social networks he uses and why.
  
• The VP of Strategic Marketing at FedEx doesn't like blogging and thinks it doesn't impact Google search results. He must not search very much. Check out Jeremiah's take.
  
• Ever wonder what you'd look like as a Simpson character? Head over here and Simpsonize yourself.
  
• Mashable has a great look at the numbers behind high-buzz sites like Pownce, Facebook and Twitter. Check it here.
  
• Tech Crunch acquired the site InviteShare which allows people to get invites to new beta versions of social media sites.
  
• Veoh signed a deal with Verizon to deliver videos from the site to Verizon mobile users. Look for more of this type of arrangement this next year.
  
• Josh Hallet at HyKu posts about how blogging can be used to drive economic development.
  
• Brilliant little bit of buzz viral in this post from Faris Yakob. This type of inteagration in the digital space is impressively engaging.
  
• Facebook overtook MySpace in the UK foir the number of search queries.
  
• Lots of good press on the Age of Conversation project that I am a part of. Check out the site for more info.
  
• Hong Kong's mass transit train system is getting WiFi.
  
• There is a rumor that Vodafone is looking to buy Verizon. Would be a major move for global cellular.
  
• Google is trying to purchase a chunk of the US 700Mhz wireless spectrum (thank you Michelle!). With this move they could control what companies use it and how those arrangements with consumers happen. AT&T isn't happy and has responded.
  

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. youtube
   
2. noelia
   
3. skyblog
   
4. harry potter
   
5. ron paul
   
6. myspace
   
7. photobucket
   
8. bebo
   
9. xu jinglei
   
10. iphone
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Zaadz
   
2. 37 Signals
   
3. Stickam
   
4. Bolt
   
5. Rojo
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Diva Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. Converstations
   
8. What's Next
   
9. Church of the Customer
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd Andrlik - Check out my featured profile on Todd's site

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Micro Persuasion
   
3. tompeters!
   
4. Pronet Advertising
   
5. Adrants
   
6. SEOMoz Blog
   
7. Online Marketing Blog
   
8. Duct Tape Marketing
   
9. Marketing Pilgrim
   
10. PSFK
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Will it blend? iPhone
   
2. Breaking news: all online data lost...
   
3. Debate '08: Obama girl vs. Giuliani girl
   
4. Diet Coke and mentos
   
5. The Wind
   

More

[Honorable mention: prison thriller from Sean Howard @ CrapHammer]

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for July 13, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

Buzz Friday is also available as part of the Techno//Marketer Podcast on iTunes. Click here to subscribe and take the Buzz to go.

[Feed readers please click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• The hottest marketing book of the year (well, at least one of them) comes out on Monday. The Age of Conversation, of which I am one of the authors, combines the thoughts of 100 authors, bloggers and change agents centered around the theme of creating conversations. Check back here on Monday morning for more info. All proceeds go to charity. Thanks Drew and Gavin!
  
• Nielsen/NetRatings announced it will abandon the page view metric in favor of visitor time on site. MUCH more debate on this to come.
  
• Jeremiah at Web-Strategist has a nice post about social media measurement. Anyone in this space should check it out.
  
• Doug Meacham gives a great write up of the Whole Foods CEO debacle. Read this for a lesson in what NOT to do if you run a company.
  
• The new Simpson's Movie has been getting some good attention online. Here is a quick roundup of some of it.
  
• Looking for alternatives to Digg for social new communities? Check out these six.
  
• British police will be using head-mounted cameras with video recorders to capture incidents. I think much more of this is going to be coming along the Justin.tv route.
  
• YouTube re-affirms its stance as the king of user generated content announcing the winner of their Sketchies contest.
  
• How do you feel about Starbucks? Anybody who knows me well knows how I love them so. Head over to Lewis' blog to let him know how you feel.
  
• AT&T is reporting that 25% of their iPhone customers switched from another carrier. That's one way to stay relevant. They're going to need to keep up the dev cycle on new phones as more companies copy quickly.
  
• I mentioned something like this in my social media video strategy post, but more companies are developing devices that are integrated with social networking sites. Casio announced their new cameras will hook up to YouTube.
  
• The people at Will It Blend? have a great new video out on blending the iPhone. Apple fanboys avert your eyes.
  
• People are actually selling invites to the social networking site Pownce on eBay. People please, just ask for them. The service is still not very useful to me, but I'm waiting to see if it gains critical mass.
  
• Marc Andreessen, one of the founders of Netscape back in the day, has been blogging for five weeks and he's hooked. Here are his thoughts. Welcome to the blogosphere Marc!
  
• Yahoo is rumored to be building their own social network called Mosh. More to come on this I'm sure.
  
• MySpace has been overtaken in the UK by both Facebook and Bebo. Will this trend continue to the US?
  
• Valeria has a good look at why US mobile carriers are lagging behind their European counterparts.
  
• CK helps a company make a difference while pitching bloggers. What do you think?
  
• Apple is reported to be working on enabling Flash on the iPhone. That would be very nice indeed.
  
• Possibly the first copyright infringement lawsuit in Second Life happened around the fourth of July. I foresee more of these in the future as real world items are replicated virtually. We'll have to see what precedent is set here.
  
• Jeep gets social media and they know their customers like to share experiences. See havefunoutthere.com via Three Minds.
  
• Apple picked up the www.iphone.com domain name for seven figures.
  
• Love this movie done by Karl Long of Nokia in line with iPhone customers. The end is the payoff. Nice work Karl.
  
• Coca-Cola has made a bold move into SL with their Virtual Thirst competition. They took that a step further by officially telling people that they would not give any guidance or police the virtual community thereby allowing anyone to use their marks. Very bold.
  
• David Armano pulled a nice little joke on readers announcing a fictitious social netoworking site called BouGie. He had people going before calling it off showing how easy it is to spread the message if you reach the right people.
  
• Have you heard of Ning, but didn't know what it was? Here is the founder's take. I'll be posting on it next week with an Inside//Out feature.
  
• More companies are venturing into Second Life with better strategies. Check out Neville Hobson's take on Crowne Plaza's entry.
  
• NBC's ClownCo. better get up and running quick or YouTube's lead is going to grow even more. YouTube has 60%+ of worldwide video traffic.
  
• Mario Vellandi had a nice post on a new site called Here's To Beer. He later found that Annheuser-Busch owns it. This seems a good move to really engage outside of Bud.tv as that strategy gets re-worked.
  
• A Google blogger posted a personal post on the company's health care blog regarding Michael Moore's new movie Sicko. The post was out of line per the company's position and is another lesson learned for all of us. Thanks Scoble.
  

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. youtube
   
2. noelia
   
3. ron paul
   
4. myspace
   
5. bebo
   
6. music
   
7. iphone
   
8. harry potter
   
9. paris hilton
   
10. dailymotion
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Oodle
   
2. Ning
   
3. MyYearBook
   
4. Box.net
   
5. Ma.gnolia
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden - No changes this week

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Gaping Void
   
3. Duct Tape Marketing
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Diva Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Converstations
   
9. Church of the Customer
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd And - New to Buzz Friday

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Micro Persuasion
   
3. tompeters!
   
4. Pronet Advertising
   
5. Adrants
   
6. SEOMoz Blog
   
7. Online Marketing Blog
   
8. Duct Tape Marketing
   
9. Marketing Pilgrim
   
10. PSFK
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Will it blend? iPhone
   
2. CNN gets blitzed by Michael Moore
   
3. The Wind
   
4. Madonna Hey You
   
5. Samsung Dance
   

More

---

To help you stay on top of what is happening and to filter the myriad options, you can now subscribe to the Techno//Marketer podcast on iTunes. Get updates in real time when new videos become available.

If you use another podcatcher you can grab my podcast RSS feed here.

---

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for June 29, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

[Audio should be good this week. You can subscribe via RSS to receive an update when I post a new video here.]

[Feed readers please click through to the post to see the video.]

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• The iPhone launches at 6pm tonight at Apple and at&t stores nationwide. It will be interesting to see if they sell out or if the stores are just busy. By my calculations the phone plus one year of service is around $1500. People have been camped out for days to get the first couple units. To tell you the truth, I would be out there too, but I have Verizon.
  
• Greg Verdino has a great piece about loving your haters. Jason Calacanis proved this strategy successful the other day on his Calacanis Cast show when he invited four SEO critics and Jason stole the show.
  
• MySpace launched its MySpaceTV site and pretty much copied YouTube verbatim. Why mess with a good thing eh?
  
• Speaking of YouTube, traffic to the site is 50% greater than any other video site according to HitWise. I wonder if CBS still thinks going on their own is a good idea?
  
• CK has a great post on trust. How to lose it and how to win it.
  
• Google will now allow you to alter your driving directions through Google Maps. You can drag the routes to avoid construction and get where you're going with greater ease.

• Mentos has an interesting new site featuring their intern Trevor. Think Subservient Chicken in human form and real time.
  
• Buzz follows Kevin Rose (of Digg) wherever he goes in whatever he does. Marion Sundar covers his new venture Pownce combines IM, file transfer and Twitter-like presence and group push functionality. It's in limited beta so anybody with an invite to spare shoot it over.
  
• Dell has released some pretty new colors on their Inspiron laptops. Drew McLellan has a nice post about what happens when a product shifts categories. I do think, however, putting new colors on the same old hardware running MS Vista isn't a real shift. Apple was a radical shift because it combined the OS with the design.
  
• TMobile is creating cellular phones that can work on WiFi networks.
  
• Jeremiah Owyang at PodTech shares a brilliant idea from his trip to Singapore. A company provides a camera and printer for customers to take a picture. They're encouraged to take one home and leave one for their wall. It's become a tourist attraction and business driver.
  
• I attended a great virtual branding event at crayon's Second Life HQ the other day. I thought it was a great way to liven up what would be a mediocre phone conference. It allowed for the personal interactions that we take for granted about attending in real life.
  
• Flickr photos are now being indexed in Yahoo's search engine. This is a big boost for Yahoo.
  
• New DIY Twitter network service Frengo launches. This could be a big trend for branded uses of the technology.
  
• Apple quietly passed Amazon.com to become the third largest music retailer. This plus the iPhone are really giving Apple some momentum to try bigger, better things. Look out Best Buy and WalMart.
  
• Facebook's new open platform has put some fear into other networks including professional network LinkedIn. They've announced the plan to open up in a similar way.
  
• 
  

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. youtube
   
2. noelia
   
3. iphone
   
4. ron paul
   
5. myspace
   
6. facebook
   
7. video de noelia
   
8. video noelia
   
9. descargar
   
10. paris hilton
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Plaxo
   
2. Bolt
   
3. Geni
   
4. Vimeo
   
5. Stickam
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden - No changes this week

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Creating Passionate Users
   
3. Gaping Void
   
4. Duct Tape Marketing
   
5. Logic + Emotion
   
6. Diva Marketing (Go Toby!)
   
7. What's Next
   
8. Daily Fix
   
9. Converstations
   
10. Drew's Marketing Minute
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd And - New to Buzz Friday

1. Seth Godin
   
2. Copyblogger
   
3. Micro Persuasion
   
4. tompeters!
   
5. Adrants
   
6. Pronet Advertising
   
7. SEOMoz Blog
   
8. Online Marketing Blog
   
9. Duct Tape Marketing
   
10. Marketing Pilgrim
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Dramatic chipmunk
   
2. Mika Brzezinski rips Paris Hilton
   
3. My iPhone Diary
   
4. Microsoft Surface Parody
   
5. Paul sings opera
   

More

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for June 22, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion.

[Note: The audio this week should be noticeably better for you. Let me know if anybody has trouble hearing it.]

Feed readers can see the video here.

Here are all of the items that I think are interesting this week:

• One week until iPhone drops. Prepare for the madness and get in line now.
  
• YouTube will launch on the iPhone. Like to see their data plan rates before I get too excited about this one.
  
• Yahoo had a leadership change this week as they keep falling further behind Google. Will it help?
  
• I love this post from Seth Godin. He shifts our thinking of most people about blogging. What if you had just one post, but refined it until you were the expert on your subject?
  
• Microsoft is paying attention to social media. A Zune fan got two tattoos promoting the device and MS is having him out to Redmond to meet the Zune team. Nice job MS.

  
  

• Pier 1 is dropping e-commerce from its site to turn it into a corporate marketing piece. WHAT?! They were doing around $18.9 million, but managed to lose money. Sounds like bad implementation to me.
  
• Steve Rubel has a great piece about the future of PR. It's participating, not pitching.
  
• Mark Goren has a great post about what we make. The video he uses is a must see if you are or know of a teacher of anything.
  
• Cool things always happen in London. Here are a couple of shopping examples. Ralph Lauren has a touch-sensitive window and the music group The Chemical Brothers took over a storefront to promote a new album.
  
• More Yahoo rumors in the wake of the CEO switch. Will they buy Bebo? Somebody will and the other major viable option seems to be cost-prohibitive.
  
• Want to know how big YouTube is getting? They're about to pass the BBC in visits in the UK. That's huge!
  
• crayon is hosting a virtual branding summit in Second Life. Check out this post if you are interested.
  
• Person-to-person lending is taking off as the user base of sites like MySpace and Facebook grow. Prosper and Lending Club are getting investment dollars and having some success.
  
• Vodaphone created a media roadblock the other day in the UK as it took over web, cable, satellite and terrestrial channels to run their ad. That had to cost a pretty penny.
  
• Patrick at Lonely Marketer has a great look at what analytics you should be looking at and why. This is a great post as it clarifies what you need to know.
  
• Ning lets you embed a social network in another social network. There is lots of potential here and you can expect to see this happen more and more.
  

Quick look at iPhone blog buzz

iPhone has taken over the buzz from most other mobile devices. Here is a graph tracking blog mentions between iPhone, Razr and Blackberry.

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. youtube
   
2. ron paul
   
3. myspace
   
4. noelia
   
5. dailymotion
   
6. bebo
   
7. iphone
   
8. paris hilton
   
9. facebook
   
10. videos
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Kaboodle
   
2. Fotolia
   
3. Wikia
   
4. Snap
   
5. CrazyEgg
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden - No changes this week

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Creating Passionate Users
   
3. Gaping Void
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Duct Tape Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. Converstations
   
8. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
9. The Viral Garden
   
10. Jaffe Juice
    

View the top full top 25

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Todd And - New to Buzz Friday

1. Seth Godin
   
2. tompeters!
   
3. Micro Persuasion
   
4. Online Marketing Blog
   
5. Adrants
   
6. Pronet Advertising
   
7. SEOMoz Blog
   
8. Duct Tape Marketing
   
9. Marketing Pilgrim
   
10. adgoodness
    

View the full list here

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Paul singing opera
   
2. Prometeus - the media revolution
   
3. Britain's got talent - Conny
   
4. Microsoft surface parody
   
5. Dramatic look
   

More

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for June 15, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to add on.

I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion. (Would anybody be interested in seeing this become a video podcast feed?)

Feed readers can see the video here.

Here are all of the items I think are interesting this week:

• Apple iPhone comes out next week and demand is expected to be high. If you're looking for one, you better be ready to camp out.
  
• Apple also had their WWDC conference this week where Jobs gave a keynote. Most notably out of that came Apple's Safari for the PC. Exploits ensued, but I sense a need for the browser for iPhone integration. We'll see. 1 million people have already downloaded it.
  
• Second Life's voice integration is expected soon where people can chat with each other through micropohones. This will greatly enhance the level of interactivity.
  
• Boston launched a SMS crime stoppers hotline. People can send a message to their shortcode from their phones when 911 is too hard to dial. Good idea though.
  
• Google was going to hold a competing social get together for eBay merchants during eBay's big conference to try to lure people to Google's Checkout. eBay threatened to pull all of their keyword advertising on Google and the event was cancelled. Ah the strongarm.
  
• Flickr in the news twice. They launched the service in seven languages first. Second they have had more complaints of photo censorship. Read more about that here.
  
• Looking for tips on public speaking? See this marvelous post by Guy Kawasaki for some hints.
  
• Jason Calacanis' Mahalo human-powered search engine launched Greenhouse. The service offers to pay people to find and submit content.
  
• YouTube has a new look in beta that offers new layouts and larger video windows. Google account integration coming soon too.
• Do you ever think you feel your phone vibrate and it's not ringing? It's called phantom ring syndrome and it's real.
  
• Bebo is integrating iTunes into accounts so you can go to a band's site and buy on the spot. Look for a LOT more of this to come soon.
  
• Another move toward Google Office. Gmail now offers integrated PowerPoint viewing.
  
• Can blogging work as a marketing tool? Heck yes it can. Just ask Lewis Green.
  
• Mack Collier covers Sony's launch of their Playstation blog.
  
• Branding Wire has launched. Check out their first branding challenge here.
  
• Google blogger Matt Cutts responds to Privacy International's claims that Google isn't doing enought to keep information private.
  
• If you disagreed with Seth Godin, would you say something? I hope you would. Check out Drew's blog for a great discussion about this. I think too many people use Seth and Guy as traffic building tools tracking back to them with irrelevant mentions and links. Discussion about an idea is good, but tracking back to every post is just dumb.
  

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. authority
   
2. ron paul
   
3. education
   
4. myspace
   
5. bicycling
   
6. bebo
   
7. youtube
   
8. flickr
   
9. angelina jolie
   
10. dell
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. Bolt
   
2. Ning
   
3. Kaboodle
   
4. Zaadz
   
5. Plaxo
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Creating Passionate Users
   
3. Gaping Void
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Duct Tape Marketing
   
6. Daily Fix
   
7. Converstations
   
8. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
9. The Viral Garden
   
10. Jaffe Juice
    

Note that this list is now running off of Technorati rankings and not Alexa.
View the top full top 25

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Sarkozy au G8
   
2. Paul singing opera **Please watch this clip**
   
3. Britain's got talent - Conny
   
4. Paris in Jail: The music video
   
5. Japanese TV Tetris game
   

More

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer

Buzz Friday for June 8, 2007

Here is a look at what is happening across a couple of sites I keep an eye on. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to add on.

I am refining this post over time, so if there is anything you would like me to add just email me or leave a comment. Similarly, if you have something you think is Buzz Friday worthy let me know and I'll look it over for inclusion. (Would anybody be interested in seeing this become a video podcast feed?)

Feed readers can see the video here.

Here are all of the items I think are interesting this week:

• Book Club @ MarketingProfs kicks off their new book next week with Made to Stick by the Heath brothers Dan and Chip. This is one of my top all-time favorite business books. If you're interested and want to get in on the action, head on over there and sign up.
  
• The hype surrounding the iPhone is reaching deafening levels now. Apple has an estimated 3 million units ready to ship and there is still a shortage projected. The big question for me is the Apple touch screen as an input device. I think there could be a major potential problem there.
  
• Steve Woodruff of StickyFigure has launched a new blog called BrandingWire. A group of 12 experts will discuss branding in the age of technology and provide valuable insights to marketers everywhere.
  
• Facebook apps are launching quickly on the new F8 platform. Properties include Flickr, Digg and Google Reader.
  
• Facebook is picking up steam big time and Yahoo is rumored to be in talks for an estimated $2 billion.
  
• Jeremiah Owyang has some great tips on measuring a social media program.
  
• David Armano had a great diagram titled the 'Experience Map'. Check out his update and note the three learning points at the bottom. Great summary.
  
• Coke and NBC are both capitalizing on Second Life to promote musicians by offering virtual concerts. SL is a great way to let people get close and build an experience around them.
  
• Jackie Huba at Church of the Customer Blog has a great summary post on what a customer complaint can become in social media if not addressed.
  
• Google Maps is becoming even more robust by adding public transit information in to the service.
  
• Feedburner officially announced their acquisition by Google. I'm looking forward to getting my feed stats in the same location as my site stats. Lots of potential here for ad revenue in RSS feeds via Feedburner.
  
• Guy Kawasaki's newest venture, Truemors, has received mixed review. Despite what you think of the site, he has proven what I've said for a long time. Technology allows people to built rapid concepts, launch them and tweak over time easier than ever before. He launched the site for $12,107.09.
  
• Mario Sundar looks at how Facebook's new polling feature could be used for market research.
  
• Bebo, one of Europes hottest social networks, recently launched a new look. It seems they're taking a mixed model approach to this and hovering between MySpace and Facebook.
  
• If you use, or are looking at e-coupons for your company, check out this option to see what the future may hold.
  
• Two takes on brainstorming. Pro and Con. Which do you agree with?
  

Top 10 Technorati Searches

1. youtube
   
2. ron paul
   
3. myspace
   
4. paris hilton
   
5. galilea montijo
   
6. bebo
   
7. facebook
   
8. nextstudent
   
9. akon
   
10. dailymotion
    

Top Five Web2.0 Movers of the Week (using Alexa data)

1. 9Rules Network
   
2. Etsy
   
3. Feedster
   
4. V Social
   
5. Ze Frank
   

More

Top Ten Marketing Blogs from Viral Garden

1. Seth's Blog
   
2. Creating Passionate Users
   
3. Gaping Void
   
4. Logic + Emotion
   
5. Daily Fix
   
6. Converstations
   
7. Drew's Marketing Minute
   
8. The Viral Garden
   
9. Jaffe Juice
   
10. Duct Tape Marketing
    

Note that this list is now running off of Technorati rankings and not Alexa.
View the top full top 25

Top 5 "Viral" Videos This Week

1. Women in art
   
2. Sarah Silverman blasts Paris Hilton
   
3. Battle at Kruger
   
4. The Zimmers "My Generation"
   
5. iPhone ad
   

More

Technorati Tags:
trends, buzz, buzzfriday, matt dickman, Techno//Marketer