Web site design and style suggestions

WebDesignFromScratch.com has an interesting Web 2.0 do/don’t design guide.

Check it out.

MySpace Marketing Tips

This article on MarketingProfs.com has some great insights into marketing on MySpace.com. Check it out: MySpace Marketing Tips

I thought I’d add on some info from my experience…

Media campaign packages on MySpace that include your own “community page” start at around $75k (up from about $50k last year) and easily double based on extras you might pile on. The CPMs for targeted display media are very low.

According to the MySpace reps I’ve worked with, the keys to success includes providing consumers with lots of “cool” freebies and interactivity. The key is to give the MySpace users the ability to “make your brand their own.” Examples:

• Downloadable badges (catch phrases, cool visuals, etc.)
• Downloadable wallpaper
• Code to incorporate your background artwork, badges, etc. on their own MySpace pages
• Royalty free music files

The South Park 10th Season page recently had a build your own South Park character tool. Then you could copy the code to display your custom SP character on your own profile.

Up until a week or two ago, Apple had four community pages for it’s second generation iPod Nano. One page per color: Black, blue, green, pink. Each was it’s own personality with very cool visuals you could copy to your own profile. Plus each Nano had several mood music tracks you could listen to. That was the first instance I had seen of a brand having more than one page representing it.

Please share your MySpace marketing experience or thoughts.
Thanks.
-Roland

Podcasting for Your Business

I’m an avid podcast listener. At first, I couldn’t understand why anyone would be interested. But after I tried out a few podcasts, I was hooked. While in the car, I playback content from my iPod through the car speakers. I never listen to the radio anymore.

I currently subscribe to over sixty podcasts that vary in topic:

• Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Project Management
• Sales
• Technology
• Mac-centric
• Parenting
• Humor

They all jockey for position in my list. It doesn’t take much for me to get burned out and start dropping the weaker ones.

This type of content has been around for years, but advances in the past two years have made it easier than ever for anyone to publish and distribute, as well as for consumers to access and playback.

What’s great about podcasting is that it is truly a when, where and how you want it medium.

I really enjoy producing podcasts. It’s an opportunity to be a bit more creative than traditional online marketing.

If you are ready to test the waters by publishing audio or video content, you should take time to properly plan:

1. Strategy
2. Content creation
3. Production
4. Promotion via social media

You also need to set some expectations:

1. Don’t make an unattainable goal/metrics for your podcast. Your podcast may be better at establishing affinity for your brand over the long term than measurable transactions in the short term.
2. Results take time. You don’t pull the plug after three weeks. You’ll need to earn trust and credibility. Having a reputable brand name attached helps in credibility, but if the content is overtly/heavy handedly branded, it will put off viewers. Plan at least a twelve week editorial calendar to start.
3. Make subscribing easy for the consumers and available in many different channels. It’s not all about hosting on a single Web site. The content should be distributed anywhere, any way, any how the consumer wants to get it. The consumer wants to be in control.
4. Quality content needs to be short and digestible, as well as compelling and memorable. You can always drive people to a Web site afterwards to retrieve additional content (e.g. URLs/recipes/ingredient lists).
5. Frequency is important. Weekly is best. If the podcast is good, subscribers will come to expect it. If you don’t meet expectations, consumers will unsubscribe to listen to other podcasts competing for their attention.
6. Don’t let the lawyers cripple your efforts. There’s no better way to deflate the wind in your sails than to let the lawyers on your ship. ‘Nuff said.
7. Respect copyrights — Yours and others.
8. Don’t limit yourself to just video podcasts. Not everyone has a video iPod nor the time to sit in front of a computer to watch video. Audio is certainly easier and faster to produce and has less impact on your hosting/bandwidth expenses.
9. Don’t underestimate the amount of work necessary to help consumers find your podcast. There’s no limit to the tactics and networking to help promote your efforts.

If your content is good, your subscribers will become fiercely loyal evangelists.

Please share your thoughts.
-Roland

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales Interview

Wikipedia is often a source of debate — Can users trust “facts” defined, edited and policed by the Internet community?

Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur did a good audio interview with Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, this week. Check out Net at Night podcast episode 13.

It cost a million dollars to run Wikipedia last year, most of that being hosting and bandwidth costs. That is expected to climb to 2.5 million.

Questions answered include:

• Can you use Wikipedia as a reliable source?
  Use it as a general guide to other information, but not as your sole source.
• Wikipedia versus Encyclopedia Britannica?
  Even Encyclopedia Britannica is riddled with errors. Study results.
• Should you edit entries about yourself?
  If you are popular enough to have an entry about yourself and there are factual errors, you may want to be extremely cautious about editing your info. Several alternative suggestions are discussed in the interview.
• Will they begin to run advertising on the site?
  Rather than taking advertising, they continue to depend on community donations. But that may have to change in the future.

Enjoy.
-Roland