12/29/2006
Okay we are on the eve of a new year. Make a resolution to learn something new. Here are some ideas:

RSS - learn more at RSS Specifications
Podcasting - learn more at Podcasting Tools
Social Bookmarking - tackle Digg

12/28/2006
Digg is a popular user drive social network. ProNet Advertising wrote up a nice Beginners Guide to Digg.

If you have ever felt like you had to dig around the Internet for good content, you might want to look at something called Digg (digg.com). Digg is a site that will help you avoid the process of digging and instead, get exactly what others have dug up so you can see some of the great sites/stories/things out there on the Internet. Many people reading this might already know what Digg is all about so if you fall into this category, quit reading now and go elsewhere or you might feel this is a bit basic. If you haven't heard of Digg, read further and you can not only understand one of the more successful sites on the web these days but also get an idea of how you can leverage it for your business. Digg epitomizes the value of collective intelligence and community on the Internet in a way that not only brings value to its users, but also to businesses that are savvy enough to take advantage.

12/27/2006
New e-commerce trends have shaped this holiday season, including the increasing importance of social networks, blogs, and user content; booming sales of luxury items; an extended shopping period; and the emergence of niche sellers.


By all accounts, sales growth has been strong. Excluding travel and auctions, consumers spent $21.7 billion at U.S. online stores between November 1 and December 20, a 26 percent increase over the same period last year, according to comScore Networks.

Even more significant, the spending increase between December 18 and December 20 was 35 percent, reversing a trend from past years when sales slowed down as Christmas Day approached. The change this year is due to retailers' improved ability to ship items on time later in the season and to consumers' willingness to pay extra for this convenience.

complete article

12/26/2006
Australian Courts recently ruled that providing web links to copyright-protected music is enough to make a site legally liable. This creates a huge legal uncertainty for search engines around the world, in particular YouTube could be viewed as liable for content that infringes on copyrights.

12/20/2006
What is Link Love?
Link Love is all about quality. In order to achieve Link Love you must establish authority and credibility. Link Love is all about being a reputable source, often recipients of link love are the first to post breaking news that is vetted and accurate. Bloggers, webmasters and publishers reward sources they genuinely enjoy with link love.
Link Bait is often considered the evil step sister of Link Love.

What is Link Bait?
Link Bait is a hook. It is unique or even controversial content. Common sources of Link Bait include humorous items, accusations, controversy, or even implications. Link Bait is similar to 'shock and awe'; people cannot help but link because they are so intrigued (for good or bad). Link Bait often walks the line between acceptable and unacceptable.
Both Link Bait and Link Love generally result in numerous deep links, as bloggers tend to link to directly to specific articles or issues that are raised.

Not all of us are feeling the Link Love and many are not gutsy enough to use link bait with jaw dropping headlines, so what are some simple ways to garner deep links?

Link Love vs Link Bait

12/19/2006
The NASA Ames Research Center and Google have signed a formal agreement to collaborate on projects ranging from studying scientific-data search technology to using Google Earth flyovers for the moon and Mars.

The first collaboration between Google and NASA Ames will concern the availability of NASA information over the Internet. For example, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a statement that "soon" there will be Google Earth flyovers available for the surfaces of Mars and the moon. Additional data will include real-time weather forecasting and visualization, as well as tracking of the International Space Station and space shuttle activity.

Complete Article

12/12/2006
Often businesses define themselves with what is called a unique selling proposition. Many businesses market their unique selling proposition to illustrate the advantages of their product or services. When trying to establish a unique selling proposition, it is crucial to find ways to differentiate and distinguish your business from your competitors, place emphasis on the positive differences between others in the marketplace.

If you can not differentiate your company based on what you sell, try to capitalize on how you sell or support your products or services. A unique selling proposition defines why customers should buy from one business rather than a competitor.

Unique Selling Proposition

12/12/2006
I wonder how  this will influence online credibility, which appears to becoming muddier each day:

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Monday his for-profit company, Wikia Inc., is ready to give away -- for free -- all the software, computing, storage and network access that Web site builders need to create community collaboration sites.

Wikia gives away the tools and the revenue to its users. It requires only that sites built with the company's resources link to Wikia.com

12/11/2006
Check out the following top searches. You can find the most popular search phrases in a variety of categories.

12/06/2006
Increase the number of RSS subscribers by adding autodiscovery code to your website. NotePage has made a free online tool that automates the creation of the auto-discovery code for RSS feeds.

The free auto-discovery tool automatically creates the code necessary for the auto-discovery of RSS feeds on a website. Simply enter the title, and the URL of the RSS feed and a code will then be generated based on the information entered. The code can then be entered in the "header" section of an HTML web page, to assist RSS readers in automatically detecting the presence of an RSS feed for that website.

Many RSS Readers can automatically discover that an RSS feed is available for a specific website and notify the website visitor if the auto-discovery code is in place. Browsers and aggregators including FireFox, Safari and IE 7 are just a few applications that will take advantage of the presence of RSS auto-discovery code.

The RSS auto discovery tool can be accessed by clicking the following url http://www.feedforall.com/autodiscovery.htm

12/05/2006
Citizen journalists and writers have become common place on the web. Perhaps you are considering blogging, but are unsure of how to enter the world of online journaling. As the medium has grown, I thought it might be a good idea to put together some general guidelines for new bloggers and reminders to veteran bloggers about blogging practices.

Blog Etiquette

12/01/2006
Gartner Inc. is recommending that businesses complete planning by the second quarter of next year for an influenza pandemic and in particular stock up on supplies that would be needed by data center workers.

Among the suggestions offered today by a Gartner analyst at the research firm's data center conference here: Store 42 gallons of water per data center worker -- enough for a six-week quarantine -- and don't forget food, medical care, cooking facilities, sanitation issues and electricity.

Complete Prep Guide

12/01/2006
Black Friday now has Cyber Monday to rival its sales figures.

In the world of e-commerce, the Monday after Thanksgiving is referred to as Cyber Monday. As the first workday after the long weekend, it's expected to be big for online retail, with Internet-connected employees get to their holiday shopping.
This year, Cyber Monday once again saw the highest unique audience of any day so far this holiday season with 29.5 million unique visits to Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday eShopping Index, according to the metrics firm.

12/01/2006
Later this week, Google will stop accepting new questions on its Answers service, one of many search-related products the company has rolled out over the years. Google says that part of being an innovator means "reconsidering our goals."

Google Answers provided a way for users to pose questions and set a price for how much the answer would be worth to them. Others from around the world could then answer the question, and receive payment, with Google taking 50 cents as a listing fee.

11/28/2006
Content rich means different things for different individuals, because what one person finds useful, another may not. Content rich is all about providing information that is considered valuable to your target audience. Information that visitors might find useful could consist of product or industry facts, statistics, reviews, tutorials, or educational information related to a specific industry.

Content Rich Websites