Connecting Businesses One By One
Google does it again. FeedBurner has been picked up for a cool $100 mill. Not too shabby. Congrats to all the folks at FeedBurner, you build a service that we’ve all come to rely on and made it awesome. So awesome that a powerhouse like Google saw it as something it needed to acquire to achieve its strategic goals.
There is, of course, a ton of discussion about the purchase. Techcrunch broke the news, Tony Hung had some of the first real analysis. Mathew Ingram and Marshall Kirpatrick have more thoughts, though Andy Beard did have some sage words it was still a rumour.
BuisnessWeek, GeekNewsCentral, and apparently Nick Wilson (via Twitter) think this is a bad thing for all of us.
For me it’s not the potential for increased revenue from Feedvertising (Disclosure: My personal blog uses FeedBurner’s RSS ads), but the potential for integrating my RSS feed with other Google services, especially Google Analytics. Essentially my favourite metrics tools are now under one roof, and I really like that. I use FB’s RSS stats for readership and FB’s web stats for live reporting. When I want to drill down and export reports, it’s Google Analytics all the way.
Yes, the FOG (fear of Google) is palpable right now. Google pulling all our data together. What will they do with all the information. I think it’s pretty clear what they will do with it. All this data is going to be used to deliver more targeted ads to use. Don’t forget that Google is the keeper of much of our data that we want to search for. Don’t you think that maybe blogs and other sites using FB’s services might get preferential treatment by Google for indexing? Maybe sites using Google Analytics and FB might skip the whole sandbox entirely? Might be nice.
Yeah, I think this is a good thing. And, probably just the first of many acquisitions we’ll be seeing this summer. Wonder how long 37 Signals is going to remain on it’s own? Wouldn’t that be a nice addition to Google Apps?
We are proud to announce that a new client of ours, uLocate Communications, recently received an $11 Million round of funding through Venrock, Grand Banks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners, and they will be using that funding to further their new and exciting mobile platform at Where.com. In addition to the funding, One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire will be providing them a professional blogger to jump into the Where.com application and use it as a consumer and to post about his experiences and thoughts on the application. Where.com’s platform is very exciting, as is stated from the press release:
WHERE is the first application development platform that addresses the major challenges facing developers and operators in the mobile application landscape. Built on the same framework that powers MapQuestâ„¢ FindMe and Helio’sâ„¢ Buddy Beacon, WHERE delivers the promise of marrying mobile technology with GPS. As a result, consumers have a wealth of content to choose from, effectively personalizing their mobile GPS experience. WHERE helps you find the people, places and things that matter to you.
Walt Doyle, CEO and President of uLocate is also a participating blogger which makes this company a very forward thinking company that I expect great things from them anbd not just because they have chosen our company to assist them in their blogging efforts, that’s was just a bonus. They understand the power of blogging and want to expose their platform to as many developers and other consumers as possible. They understand the communication tool that blogging provides and have implemented their online plans to include this powerful tool. This company is going places, and I’m glad we get to be a part of it. For further info you can see the full press release. Follow along and see how Where.com will rock your mobile experience.
Tags: uLocate Communications, Venrock, Grand Banks Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners, Where.com, One By One Media, Bloggers For Hire, MapQuest, FindMe, Helio’s Buddy Beacon, GPS, LBS, Walt Doyle, Corporate Blogging, Social Media, CEO Blogs
Last week I was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio, and Tris has now had a discussion on WebPro News via video. It seems that we here at One By One Media have made the cross over into what we are calling the Social Mediasphere.Â
We have decided since we are doing more and more with the Web 2.0 tools out there and are trying and mastering new techniques for joining the new revolution of tools for marketing advertising and PR for our clients, to also begin our own Social Media show over at Blogonomics.net. We are just now in the early stages, but we will be doing a weekly podcast of the happenings in the social media area, and will be doing live casting of events and other fun things. Please take a moment to bookmark the site or add it to your feeds and we will be delivered to you when the site is up and running
Tags: Blog Talk Radio, Tris Hussey, WebPro News, One By One Media, Social Mediasphere, Web 2.0, marketing, advertising, PR, Social Media, Blogonomics, podcast,
I seem to be just on a roll with the posts covering “disappointing” news about Web 2.0 and saying “so what“. I just posted my bit of discussion about who we should be reaching out to in terms of expanding the Web 2.0 sphere into 2.5 or whatever, and it ties right into the current discussion of the Pew Internet and American Life study just released (see Neville, Mathew, Duncan, David, Curtiss for discussion).
The gist is that a minority of Americans aren’t participating in Web 2.0. Umm, this is surprising? Really, folks this is just like most other parts of life. Most people don’t care about TVs much. I knew people who never set the clock on their VCR. Gee, did that hamper VCR adoption? Hardly. How many people understand the differences in hooking up their DVD player using S-Video, component, or just the RCA video plugs? Heck I really don’t understand it either, but I know component is supposed to be better.
How many people write for newspapers or magazines? Let’s even include all the local and regional publications, just for kicks and giggles. Still not many. Not really a problem is it?
Now, on the other side of the argument is that we as content creators have a responsibility to do a good job, don’t you think?
After watching the story unfold about the blog post that appeared on Digg that was dugg over 15,000 times and appeared on page one of Digg. The Digg Effect as it has become known is a phrase given when this phenomena occurs. Many times if a story becomes popular enough it will appear on page 1 of Digg and the result is traffic soaring to the point of bringing most servers to their knees and crashing many sites. This Digg Effect has taken on new meaning for me since seeing the resulting revolution that unfolded.
For me, the "New Digg Effect" is the power of social networks and communities. This can be used for good or for bad actually. In my opinion, posting something on a site that breaks the law or goes against a terms of service rules can be a very bad thing. Mob rule takes over in this new action. This is not necessarily unique in the instance of Digg, but its popularity was shown and the number of people that can influence an outcome was apparent here. As I read a comment by Paul Montgomery at Tech Crunch it came clear to me that this could be a New Digg Effect:
I agree with the users on this one. They win. I just wish they could turn their power on some issue that actually mattered. (emphasis added)
That made me think of the power that social networks and communities could wield in other areas. The viral effect of this new medium. It made me think of things like the Amber Alert System, and then I began to think of the power a mob could have on a Presidential election in online communities. I’m not sure if the New Digg Effect has me running scared at this point or in awe how quickly something can travel from shore to shore and continent to continent when a group wants something accomplished.  Social Media and the online communities carry a new torch at this point. Like Paul Montgomery said, let’s use this New Digg Effect for something that really matters.
Chris Brogan has written a great blog post today about extending the conversation. He says that he believes that all of these web 2.0 tools that are available are for helping to extend the conversation. I have to agree with Chris. He touches on something that I think is the gist of Shel Israel’s new book about Global Neighborhoods. Web 2.0 has allowed us to reach out and communicate like never before. I have experienced it on a personal and business level myself.Â
He makes a great point about how we are merely just a somewhat big cocktail party all talking to each other without reaching out to a broader audience. We reside in a bowl or a bubble and we can only hear ourselves.
We’re all just talking to each other, which is swell, but if we want to be relevant, we’ve gotta climb the slippery, shiny, invisible sides of this big bowl we’re all standing in, and we’ve gotta get out there into the crowd. If I had this graphic, I’d post it. The graphic would be a guy throwing a bowl of shiny goldfish into a busy crowd. Think about that a moment. We’re all just goldfish in a bowl until we get there, into the people’s world.
I love this analogy because some days I feel like I myself am trying to climb the sides of the bowl to get to the outside to get the message to those that I can see through the bowl but they can’t seem to hear me. I shout and shout and they walk on by like that zoo exhibit of the penguins underwater in Happy Feet (yes, my life is all about animated movies). If I could only get through the protective glass and grab them and shake them. Make them hear me.
I have begun to leave the virtual life and the echo chamber to get out into the real world and speak to people about Web 2.0 and the social media. They have heard about blogs now which is different from this time last year. The MSM has helped deliver the term and the message. Of course, they have done this kicking and screaming, as is still shown by Jeff Jarvis as Chris mentions with NBC not allowing the Presidential debates online. What happened to equal access? The funny thing is, NBC will broadcast it and it will be reported and written about by bloggers long before the MSM can possible publish their thoughts.
Controlling how you reach people is an illusion. With the new Web 2.0 applications and uses being employed, they will find you whether you intend them to or not. As Jeremiah Owyang was presenting at his panel at the ad:Tech conference in San Francisco, it became apparent that we as web 2.0 experts cannot agree on this issue. I agreed with some on the panel and others not. My style and message was even different than the people involved in Jeremiah’s chat. It became clear then that we are not all singing from the same song sheet. This in my opinion is a great thing. It brings variety and diversity to the message.Â
Finally, Chris Brogan asks the questions, "Should we even try to reach out?" My response is a resounding YES. Our problem is we are not sure ourselves what message we are reaching out with to be able to sing the chorus as Chris so aptly put it. I think as we increase the integrity of the Web 2.0 foundation, we will begin to see our message take shape and it will allow us to break free of our "Bubble". The chorus will get louder and the harmony will be great music.
[Photo taken from Chris Brogan]
Tags: Chris Brogan, Shel Israel, Global Neighbourhoods, Web 2.0, ad Tech,: social media, Web 2.0, NBC, Jeremiah Owyang
While reading Brad Linder’s blog post about What Local News is Missing, and his review of Rio Pesino of Podtech.net’s interview of local people on the street, it became apparent to me that my news source is Blogging. Blogging provides me with as much coverage of local, national and even global news that I need. Blogs even provide me with information about local weather, sports, and business news. I can find all of what I need to get me the information to satisfy my query.
On the other hand, I paused to think about the woman that could not afford a computer and did not have access to the Internet. This is a big problem. She is not a small fraction of the cross section of people out there. They still rely on the free news they get. She gets her news from a newspaper, or the local news station. The problem with that scenario is she only gets one point of view. She reads the same columnist each day, gets the same view from the news anchor on her local television station. Where is the diversity in that? How is she able to interact with them by comments, and chat and IM and other forms of communication. Roosevelt promised a chicken in every pot, perhaps now is the time to have someone step up and promise a computer in every home and free Internet service to whoever wants it.Â
Tags: Brad Linder, Rio Pesino, Podtech, Blogging, Television, Newspaper, Communication
As I was watching live streaming via the Ustream.tv site of Robert Scoble, Chris Pirillo and Jeremiah Owyang, I saw a pattern of responses to the question, "Do you have a business card?"Â Many of the responses were the same, "just Google my name and you will find me."Â I heard this not only from the above named, but also in the background from people that were being interviewed or people introducing themselves.Â
A quick look at the names Googled indeed showed that "Chris" was the number one search result for Chris Pirillo, "Robert" showed that he too was the number one search result, and finally "Jeremiah" was not number one but was ranked on the first page of results.
How is this possible? It is a matter of the power of SEO and the power of how search works. The power of blogging has made them Google celebrities. These are not uncommon names, and in fact are pretty benign as I’m sure each of you know a Chris or a Robert. I myself checked my own name "Jim" and of course my campaign to be first on Google came up very short. Then I Googled my full name "Jim Turner", and lo and behold, I’m on page one here at One By One Media. I have not been blogging nearly as long as the bloggers I name above, but I’m well on my way to capturing the new way of passing out business cards. How about you? Do you rank high in your search engine of choice?
Tags: Ustream.tv, Robert Scoble, Chris Pirillo, Jeremiah Owyang, Business Cards, Google, Search Engines, Findability, One By One Media
As Tris and I were chatting about business, he suddenly went silent and now I know why. He was busy typing up something he heard on stage at the Web 2.0 Expo. He writes up on the Blog World Expo Blog:
John Battelle talking to Eric Schmidt of Google (Eric Schmidt in Conversation with John Battelle) has just announced that Google is adding a presentation tool to Docs and Spreadsheets. At this point the timeframe is next month, I believe.
It is this reason that some people love the idea of "Live Blogging" from conferences. This will probably makes it way to the MSM in a week or two, but we get to hear it first. Great job Tris and keep up the live reporting.
Tags: Web2.0Expo, W2E, Blog World Expo, BWE, John Battelle, Eric Schmidt, Google, Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, Live Blogging, MSM, Tris Hussey
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