There's no feeling quite as satisfying.
You take an age shuffling the chequers around the board, and then with one final move... whammo... a veritable hop, skip and jump over a bunch of obstacles that propels you to the next level.
This is how I feel today... now... having spent a long, exhausting, but ultimately hugely rewarding day with IT specialist James from the West Midlands National B2B Centre initiative looking at every aspect of the Junkk.com site and this blog, with a view to not just improving each in its own right, but then integrating them to make more than a simple sum of the parts.
Yet even despite this marathon, we barely scratched much of what the agenda had planned, and so here's hoping for another, equally rewarding session soon.
So what did we achieve? Well, let me count the ways...
Oh, Blogger, How Art Thou?
With all due deference to Larry and Sergey, Google may have some nifty kit, but they don't make it easy to use it all. Especially for an IT padawan like me, so it was almost reassuring to find James struggling on occasion, too. It was almost ironic, if reassuring, that he had to use Google to find forums that explained stuff waaaay better than Google Help or Forums did.
Several Easy Pieces
But persevering was worth it, as we managed to effect several, and better yet automated links between this blog on Blogger, my new Twitter feed, and also FaceBook.
With luck, and a fair wind, posting this will result in a version on both.. no hands!
At the moment it looks like it might be going to my personal Facebook rather than the Group, but James is sussing out a fix on that.
Doing 'Da Biz
Of course we are not just looking at the civvy end of the street, but also the B2B one, too. So now we have also created a complementary Linkedin Group: 'Here's One I RE:made Earlier'. This I am hoping to complement the networking I need to do with the business community with Junkk.com and RE:tie, as the others serve the public audience. Top of the list for working on tomorrow!
And I am hoping it is a happy coincidence rather than potential for clashes, that another B2B network I'm on, Plaxo, has now hooked up with LinkedIn, too.
So in theory, so long as I keep the content useful, informative and entertaining, there is a good chance of reaching out, capturing and growing audiences via greater blog outreach too.
Direct To A Screen Near You
Speaking of which, it's now even easier to opt to get these various pearls of wisdom delivered fresh and toasty via either a feed or emails... your choice. Just check the new icons top right.
And, Finally, What A Site!
We even got cracking a bit on some additional functionality on the main Junkk.com site, too, though there's no way round what is a rather venerable, and hence creaking back-end system.
Most immediately, I have discovered how at least attach blog hyperlinks on some key areas, so readers who think that not much has happened since Emma sadly moved up in the world a few years ago might discover a veritable cornucopia of info has continued on since in complement here on Blogger ever since. And, with luck, the new activity this creates will help web crawlers log more activity. Try this. Mind you... memo to self... a link back to the site page!
And as computer guru David of sound-i, who inherited our system and keeps trying to coax another web 3.0 app out of a web 1.0 skeleton, has just failed to say no (though his 'Yeeeess' did seem to have a slightly furrowed brow attached), it seems there may also be functionality we can soon add to install better updated feeds, plus.... customisable ad management.
This latter will be a real plus if it can be done, enabling us to truly prove the flexibility of the ad system, especially in complement to the postcode location facility.
Hence we may soon realise my dream of being able to offer, say, an Autogas national brand ad on the LPG master category page, but then see individual postcode specific 'classifieds' for local converters appear as the viewer surfs on and is immersed in all the site can offer.
Exciting.
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
On blogging and social networking... art & science
I went to a fascinating talk on these subjects last night at Cardiff University.
And, as a consequence, the next blog is born. The speaker, Dr. Kelly Page, shared and raised many aspects that I, at least, valued, and would suggest that if this is a topic you are interested in too (as content creator or just surfer/reader/seeker of stuff), this link is to be recommended, as this seminar, and other topics, will be uploaded, covered, and discussed.
A gifted speaker, she sparked a lot in my imagination and, I am sure others present.
As she was open to helping if she could, I have written to her, in the hope she may be able to help me with the issues, problems and opportunities I face with Junkk.com and this associated blog.
It does also serve, in edited form as a summary of some topics covered to 'give you a flavour', but mainly this shares, warts and all, what I am facing here. Read on at your discretion. Feel free to offer advice if it's constructive!
Talk about topical!
No sooner do I sit down to gather my thoughts whilst engaging in my morning trawl of the 'net and newsletters and feeds, and look what contradictory, depressing and/or inspirational information one gets bombarded with (how this is currently happened being relevant, which I'll come back to later on):
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Revmail/News/887524/Skittles-pulls-Twitter-feed-homepage/?DCMP=EMC-Revolution-Bulletin
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Revmail/News/886043/OMG-Twitter-is-like-so-2008/?DCMP=EMC-Revolution-Bulletin
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/shane_richmond/blog/2009/03/04/10_features_to_improve_twittercom
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/04/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-technology-internet_facebook.html?partner=technology_newsletter
http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=135034
A WEE BIT OF BACKGROUND
By way of a quick potted history, I am a creative (this is significant, as so much with the web requires business experience rolled in) ad man from a dinosaur age, who nonetheless saw and still sees technology as the way forward. And as a karmic correction for being a wee bit too good at getting folk to buy stuff they don't need and fly places more often than necessary, I created Junkk.com.
Basically it was... is... 'Friend's Reunited for rubbish'. In many ways it was ahead of its time (no good thing), combining social networking with communities with databasing and search. It was, at the time, cutting edge. Now... it is steam-driven. I designed the basic concept, but it was created by experts. The kind that get Linda Evangelista to wake them up, and she famously claimed not to do so for less than $10k.
And I have blundered along, alone, making it what it is. There have been highs, such as many awards and even awesome PR on occasion, and one point a few years ago when (possibly due to that PR) it had a high of 120,000 unique monthly visitors. And even my relatively new, opt-in newsletter grows daily, now around 3,000 registrants.
But there have been, and are still lows, such as taking my eye of many balls and seeing the monthly visits drop to the few thousands, the Forum stutter and die (you mentioned possible bolt-on scripts to help here, but do remember this site is steam driven and I think HTML rather than XML, especially 'back-end') and all other manner of missed opportunities. Not good for something with a model based on ad revenue based on traffic.
I attended the talk based on a simple notion... getting the traffic back up. And when that happens, the ad revenue might yet appear to allow me to run the site as I would wish. But this belies the fact that I did have it 'working' once, and dropped that ball. There is no reason that, even if I do drive traffic again, using the methodologies shared, the same will not eventually happen again.
I lack key areas of expertise, skill sets, and strategy. Maybe there's a chance that at least I may be pointed in better directions, or indeed to some who may help. I can't work much harder, but I can work smarter. Sadly, much is down to having the personnel, but as that is an area that cannot be addressed until the chicken starts making golden eggs, I need to prioritise first, make money next, and then delegate.
I commissioned a full consultant report recently, and the site got slaughtered, over a dozen jargon-heavy pages. I think it has huge problems to be sure, but none that cannot be addressed, and make it worth persevering. Too many people like it, and what I am trying to do wit it not to at least try.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
This would lead to my first comment about the lecture. It is hard, if not impossible to be all things to all people, but often I sense that such events, from overarching funders (EU, RDAs) down, that while the target is SME's, very often the pitch is the high end of the big "M", and very often the majority of attendees, like me, are from the very small 's' rump.
Hence, many things, whilst inspirational, can be outside of our financial, expertise and hence practical reach. Like I joked, when folk say 'get your head of IT to call our head of IT', I rather have to choke on the reply that, along with most other daily functions, that person is me. Equally, whilst I'd love to hire an intern for a year to (wo)man a webcam, that person has to eat to live, as do I. The ROI can bite, in all senses of that word. I actually had one who came for two months and ended staying two years, but sadly my funds could not sustain her immense value and contributions, hence a tail off in the site's performance and visitor levels.
The issue of monetisation was all rather left to the end, and also a tad 'high-end'. I think I identified three basic 'models', with the first two being perhaps the more highly represented in the audience and hence being satisfied more by what you covered:
* e-commerce - even to most basic levels, social networking can of course be a driver to the site, and hence purchase opps.
* branding - again, this can be of great value, but may even not result in any site linkage. Merely keeping the brand top of
mind at POP is enough
* traffic - my situation. I am trying to operate a publisher, 'build it and they will come... and if they pass through so will guys who want to reach them', rather discredited old dot bomb model. Kinda what I am stuck with.
But though advertising was referred to, it was not really in the context I would have valued knowing more about. In fact few, if any of the examples showed do I recall having a banner or button, which required a person to visit first and then click on to generate revenue.
I know, I need massive help here. I knew enough to build the site for this very purpose and did much I am proud of in this regard (inc: 1) a fortune on legals, to protect not only myself and the site, but and brands who engage with ideas and or ads; it is still well ahead in this, 2) data protection; again at the top limit, with positive opt-ins or newsletter and/or 3rd party follow ups and 3) health and safety warning options. It is not great on disability compliance any more, but that is a matter of money and the vast database I need to address, mainly uploaded by the public. I am sure it can and will be sorted).
Sadly there was not enough time for more questions in the room, but one I was going to ask related to CRM, though maybe this does not fall under social networking umbrella. I refer to reaching out to and staying in touch once someone has expressed an interest. Again my knowledge is limited to talk sensibly at this juncture, but I refer to such as RSS feeds and/or emails, etc. I can only share my own experiences, on both sides of the coin here.
Though I am registered with almost all of the social networking sites mentioned (FaceBook (hunting down after I write a possible avenue I noted on a slide... Green Patch?), MySpace, twitter, Bebo, Linked In... and many more) I barely 'use' them (may explain a lot - can't even recall half the log-ins) even as in individual (as a business not at all, yet, hence my attendance). It's a sad excuse, but I don't feel I have the time. One too many initial pokes, friend invites from 'Candy' or pointless 140-character rambles draining my day and I switched off. I have to, and enjoy reading prodigiously, and turn much into content of value for my site and/or blogs.
But I have noticed that my time-poor life means that RSS's are now left unchecked, at least as I have them on my Mac/Safari combo, as they come in to a folder I forget to access. Equally I don't check the Times or Telegraph online unless I remember I should. What I do do is open and read email summaries that come in, especially with pictures, a brief line and a link. This ranges from The Guardian to the Indy to Trade rags... to some blogs.
This, my main blog, is on Blogger. I know it is widely read and by useful folk (a pommy whinge once resulted in a Tesco Director giving me a £1k invite to a conference he was at). It is not linked to anything, and especially the very site it refers to!!!! I have tried to pop a few things as Google ads on them, but they are poorly coordinated at best.
I have no clue on Adsense vs. Adwords on any of them.
I get great stuff from folk daily (I think weekly is better, mind) usually from such as Feedburner.. FREE! I use dotmailer (waaaay too infrequently - losing hordes between mailings through folk changing newsletter recipient hot/g-mail email addys like they do underwear and firewall issues), which is as mailwashed, spam-safe as you can get... but cost me £35 a mailing... monthly... if I get my act together.
Other areas were covered, such as Wikis, the IAB (should I join?), google, vlogs, podcasts, etc. So many to check, so few to really add value?
I see the value, and hence need to do all you suggested, and get on all you shared. But my ad experience restrains me because you 'shouldn't do it until you can do it right, keep on doing it... and keep on making it ever better'. I don't want to go in half-cocked, and make a mess with the set up, running, responses, moderation, etc.
I see value in creating entities to complement a Junkk.com and Junkk Male RE:view that are themselves much better integrated first, and then use these to drive traffic in, and around, and up. Then get round to addressing monetising. The first I might be able to do on my own, with a bit of help from my basic-HTML savvy, pro-am web-designer-skilled, Second Life (we have plans to integrate this too! She runs global concerts all the time - I see enviro apps aplenty. Plus, as they present, others) champion missus.
Being very immersed as a user, one direction I see much more value in pursuing is focussing on solutions, rather than discussions. There are billions out there having spats on climate change and knocking spots off each other. The core of Junkk.com is a niche, reuse and repair, with elements of pragmatic reduction, and the much more popular (though low end-benefit to consumers, IMHO) recycling in there too. Plus it offers ideas, and the opportunity to share them.
I would seek to make the Junkk.com site the pre-eminent global portal for these topics, offering true, free value to the public, and in so doing a sustainable business model by 'green' marketers seeing the benefit of being there too to talk to and/or reach this highly targeted audience.
Sorry for the ramble. I'd have sent this as a tweet, but it may have run a tad over 140 characters:)
And, as a consequence, the next blog is born. The speaker, Dr. Kelly Page, shared and raised many aspects that I, at least, valued, and would suggest that if this is a topic you are interested in too (as content creator or just surfer/reader/seeker of stuff), this link is to be recommended, as this seminar, and other topics, will be uploaded, covered, and discussed.
A gifted speaker, she sparked a lot in my imagination and, I am sure others present.
As she was open to helping if she could, I have written to her, in the hope she may be able to help me with the issues, problems and opportunities I face with Junkk.com and this associated blog.
It does also serve, in edited form as a summary of some topics covered to 'give you a flavour', but mainly this shares, warts and all, what I am facing here. Read on at your discretion. Feel free to offer advice if it's constructive!
Talk about topical!
No sooner do I sit down to gather my thoughts whilst engaging in my morning trawl of the 'net and newsletters and feeds, and look what contradictory, depressing and/or inspirational information one gets bombarded with (how this is currently happened being relevant, which I'll come back to later on):
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Revmail/News/887524/Skittles-pulls-Twitter-feed-homepage/?DCMP=EMC-Revolution-Bulletin
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Revmail/News/886043/OMG-Twitter-is-like-so-2008/?DCMP=EMC-Revolution-Bulletin
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/shane_richmond/blog/2009/03/04/10_features_to_improve_twittercom
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/04/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-technology-internet_facebook.html?partner=technology_newsletter
http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=135034
A WEE BIT OF BACKGROUND
By way of a quick potted history, I am a creative (this is significant, as so much with the web requires business experience rolled in) ad man from a dinosaur age, who nonetheless saw and still sees technology as the way forward. And as a karmic correction for being a wee bit too good at getting folk to buy stuff they don't need and fly places more often than necessary, I created Junkk.com.
Basically it was... is... 'Friend's Reunited for rubbish'. In many ways it was ahead of its time (no good thing), combining social networking with communities with databasing and search. It was, at the time, cutting edge. Now... it is steam-driven. I designed the basic concept, but it was created by experts. The kind that get Linda Evangelista to wake them up, and she famously claimed not to do so for less than $10k.
And I have blundered along, alone, making it what it is. There have been highs, such as many awards and even awesome PR on occasion, and one point a few years ago when (possibly due to that PR) it had a high of 120,000 unique monthly visitors. And even my relatively new, opt-in newsletter grows daily, now around 3,000 registrants.
But there have been, and are still lows, such as taking my eye of many balls and seeing the monthly visits drop to the few thousands, the Forum stutter and die (you mentioned possible bolt-on scripts to help here, but do remember this site is steam driven and I think HTML rather than XML, especially 'back-end') and all other manner of missed opportunities. Not good for something with a model based on ad revenue based on traffic.
I attended the talk based on a simple notion... getting the traffic back up. And when that happens, the ad revenue might yet appear to allow me to run the site as I would wish. But this belies the fact that I did have it 'working' once, and dropped that ball. There is no reason that, even if I do drive traffic again, using the methodologies shared, the same will not eventually happen again.
I lack key areas of expertise, skill sets, and strategy. Maybe there's a chance that at least I may be pointed in better directions, or indeed to some who may help. I can't work much harder, but I can work smarter. Sadly, much is down to having the personnel, but as that is an area that cannot be addressed until the chicken starts making golden eggs, I need to prioritise first, make money next, and then delegate.
I commissioned a full consultant report recently, and the site got slaughtered, over a dozen jargon-heavy pages. I think it has huge problems to be sure, but none that cannot be addressed, and make it worth persevering. Too many people like it, and what I am trying to do wit it not to at least try.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
This would lead to my first comment about the lecture. It is hard, if not impossible to be all things to all people, but often I sense that such events, from overarching funders (EU, RDAs) down, that while the target is SME's, very often the pitch is the high end of the big "M", and very often the majority of attendees, like me, are from the very small 's' rump.
Hence, many things, whilst inspirational, can be outside of our financial, expertise and hence practical reach. Like I joked, when folk say 'get your head of IT to call our head of IT', I rather have to choke on the reply that, along with most other daily functions, that person is me. Equally, whilst I'd love to hire an intern for a year to (wo)man a webcam, that person has to eat to live, as do I. The ROI can bite, in all senses of that word. I actually had one who came for two months and ended staying two years, but sadly my funds could not sustain her immense value and contributions, hence a tail off in the site's performance and visitor levels.
The issue of monetisation was all rather left to the end, and also a tad 'high-end'. I think I identified three basic 'models', with the first two being perhaps the more highly represented in the audience and hence being satisfied more by what you covered:
* e-commerce - even to most basic levels, social networking can of course be a driver to the site, and hence purchase opps.
* branding - again, this can be of great value, but may even not result in any site linkage. Merely keeping the brand top of
mind at POP is enough
* traffic - my situation. I am trying to operate a publisher, 'build it and they will come... and if they pass through so will guys who want to reach them', rather discredited old dot bomb model. Kinda what I am stuck with.
But though advertising was referred to, it was not really in the context I would have valued knowing more about. In fact few, if any of the examples showed do I recall having a banner or button, which required a person to visit first and then click on to generate revenue.
I know, I need massive help here. I knew enough to build the site for this very purpose and did much I am proud of in this regard (inc: 1) a fortune on legals, to protect not only myself and the site, but and brands who engage with ideas and or ads; it is still well ahead in this, 2) data protection; again at the top limit, with positive opt-ins or newsletter and/or 3rd party follow ups and 3) health and safety warning options. It is not great on disability compliance any more, but that is a matter of money and the vast database I need to address, mainly uploaded by the public. I am sure it can and will be sorted).
Sadly there was not enough time for more questions in the room, but one I was going to ask related to CRM, though maybe this does not fall under social networking umbrella. I refer to reaching out to and staying in touch once someone has expressed an interest. Again my knowledge is limited to talk sensibly at this juncture, but I refer to such as RSS feeds and/or emails, etc. I can only share my own experiences, on both sides of the coin here.
Though I am registered with almost all of the social networking sites mentioned (FaceBook (hunting down after I write a possible avenue I noted on a slide... Green Patch?), MySpace, twitter, Bebo, Linked In... and many more) I barely 'use' them (may explain a lot - can't even recall half the log-ins) even as in individual (as a business not at all, yet, hence my attendance). It's a sad excuse, but I don't feel I have the time. One too many initial pokes, friend invites from 'Candy' or pointless 140-character rambles draining my day and I switched off. I have to, and enjoy reading prodigiously, and turn much into content of value for my site and/or blogs.
But I have noticed that my time-poor life means that RSS's are now left unchecked, at least as I have them on my Mac/Safari combo, as they come in to a folder I forget to access. Equally I don't check the Times or Telegraph online unless I remember I should. What I do do is open and read email summaries that come in, especially with pictures, a brief line and a link. This ranges from The Guardian to the Indy to Trade rags... to some blogs.
This, my main blog, is on Blogger. I know it is widely read and by useful folk (a pommy whinge once resulted in a Tesco Director giving me a £1k invite to a conference he was at). It is not linked to anything, and especially the very site it refers to!!!! I have tried to pop a few things as Google ads on them, but they are poorly coordinated at best.
I have no clue on Adsense vs. Adwords on any of them.
I get great stuff from folk daily (I think weekly is better, mind) usually from such as Feedburner.. FREE! I use dotmailer (waaaay too infrequently - losing hordes between mailings through folk changing newsletter recipient hot/g-mail email addys like they do underwear and firewall issues), which is as mailwashed, spam-safe as you can get... but cost me £35 a mailing... monthly... if I get my act together.
Other areas were covered, such as Wikis, the IAB (should I join?), google, vlogs, podcasts, etc. So many to check, so few to really add value?
I see the value, and hence need to do all you suggested, and get on all you shared. But my ad experience restrains me because you 'shouldn't do it until you can do it right, keep on doing it... and keep on making it ever better'. I don't want to go in half-cocked, and make a mess with the set up, running, responses, moderation, etc.
I see value in creating entities to complement a Junkk.com and Junkk Male RE:view that are themselves much better integrated first, and then use these to drive traffic in, and around, and up. Then get round to addressing monetising. The first I might be able to do on my own, with a bit of help from my basic-HTML savvy, pro-am web-designer-skilled, Second Life (we have plans to integrate this too! She runs global concerts all the time - I see enviro apps aplenty. Plus, as they present, others) champion missus.
Being very immersed as a user, one direction I see much more value in pursuing is focussing on solutions, rather than discussions. There are billions out there having spats on climate change and knocking spots off each other. The core of Junkk.com is a niche, reuse and repair, with elements of pragmatic reduction, and the much more popular (though low end-benefit to consumers, IMHO) recycling in there too. Plus it offers ideas, and the opportunity to share them.
I would seek to make the Junkk.com site the pre-eminent global portal for these topics, offering true, free value to the public, and in so doing a sustainable business model by 'green' marketers seeing the benefit of being there too to talk to and/or reach this highly targeted audience.
Sorry for the ramble. I'd have sent this as a tweet, but it may have run a tad over 140 characters:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)