Google to target ads based on Web surfing habits

The Associated Press

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.
Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:25 MST

Google will use the information it collects on people’s Web surfing habits to show more ads tailored to their individual interests.

Under the program announced Wednesday, someone who frequents sites about dogs might see more ads for flea treatment products.

The program expands upon the Internet search leader’s efforts to figure out which marketing messages are most likely to appeal to different people at different times.

Google already makes billions of dollars showing ads tied to search requests and other content on a Web page. Now, it will analyze people’s favorite Web sites to divine individual tastes and package ads falling under the same areas of interest.

Apple launches smaller, 4-gigabyte iPod shuffle

The Associated Press
By JESSICA MINTZ
SEATTLE
Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:50 MST

Apple Inc. unveiled a minuscule new iPod Shuffle on Wednesday that takes its “smaller is better” mantra to a whole new level.

The third-generation Shuffle, a slim aluminum rectangle less than 2 inches long, takes up about half as much space as the previous version even as it doubles music storage space to 4 gigabytes. To achieve such a tiny form, Apple had to remove most of the buttons from the body of the $79 device and build them into the headphone cord instead.

“Smaller has tended to work very well for us,” said Greg Joswiak, a marketing vice president at Apple.

The trade-off for a sub-$100 Shuffle always has been the lack of a screen to visually navigate through the music stored on the device. The first-generation Shuffle, which launched in 2005, could hold about 240 songs, arguably not enough to warrant a screen.

Now that the device can carry 1,000 songs, Apple has come up with a way for people to identify the music they’re listening to or find songs they want. A new feature called VoiceOver can, at the push of a button, speak the song and artist name or rattle off the list of custom mixes _ called playlists _ that the owner has loaded onto the device.

Here’s how it works: As you synchronize a new Shuffle using an updated version of iTunes, your PC or Mac looks at each track and playlist and creates a small file of a computerized voice speaking the title, artist for playlist name. If a song is in Spanish or Chinese, say, the software figures this out and speaks in the appropriate language. Apple says the device can handle 14 languages.

The new Shuffle, which comes in silver or black aluminum with a shiny stainless steel clip, is set to go on sale Thursday. Joswiak said Apple’s own earphones will be the only option for early buyers, but that other companies plan to make compatible headphones as well as adapters for regular headphones.

Ross Rubin, an analyst for market researcher NPD Group, said there’s no such thing as “too small” for gadget-happy consumers as long as Apple
stays focused on ergonomics and provides a way to secure the device and keep it from getting lost.

But people who do buy a new Shuffle will be paying a premium for Apple’s design, he added, noting less-expensive mini-models like SanDisk
Corp.’s Sansa Clip and Creative Technology Ltd.’s Zen Stone.

Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple jumped $3.91, or 4.4 percent, to $92.54 in afternoon trading.

1 Mistake Most Blogs Do

#1 Mistake Most Blogs Do
by: Rok Hrastnik
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

As much as this might surprise most bloggers, the #1 mistake most blogs are doing is not publishing their content via e-mail, as a supplement to their RSS feeds.

Just think about it: while RSS is growing strong, it still only penetrates about 5-6% of the American online population. Furthermore, according to a recent BlogAds survey, “only 12 percent of the blog reading audience said it used RSS always or often”.

If you’re delivering your blog content only via RSS, you’re missing out on about 80% or more of potential regular readership/followship.

THE KEY BLOG PROBLEM

There are millions of blogs already, but really few people have the time to watch more than a few daily. But if they come back just once a week, they can be quickly overwhelmed with the amount of new content.

That’s why it’s crucial to provide a “best of”, a helping hand to guide your readers to the “must-read” content you publish … and delivering this content either as a standalone “blog-zine” or as part of your regular e-mail newsletter.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Deliver your blog posts as they are written via RSS, but then also publish a regular (weekly or monthly) e-mail e-zine with your “top blog posts” for those that are still not in to RSS.

Don’t do just one channel, do both.

E-mail is still the #1 end-user content delivery channel … whether we like it or not. Using e-mail (as a supplement to RSS) to deliver our content is just good business practice, at least for now.

THE CHRIS PIRILLO EXAMPLE

Chris Pirillo is the publisher of one of the most popular sites on the net, Lockergnome.com. He was actually the first to proclaim e-mail as being dead.

But still, while he preferrs for his subscribers to use RSS instead of e-mail, that isn’t stopping him from using or promoting either RSS or e-mail.

COMPARING BLOGS, E-ZINES, E-MAIL AND RSS

If you’re reading this article and thinking that blogs are actually “beyond e-mail”, just consider the following reality.

RSS and e-mail are content delivery channels; the tools that enable us to deliver our content to end-users. Blogs and e-zines on the other hand are two different internet media content formats, differing in how/what content is provided and presented through them.

RSS/e-mail and blogs/e-zines cannot be directly compared. Blog content and e-zine content can both be delivered via RSS and e-mail, and there is no direct business/logical relation between, for example, blogs and RSS.

Blogs are “personal” conversations, opinions and news, delivered in a linear structure, usually written in a more personal style, and confined to a limited number of content types.

E-zines on the other hand are more similar to magazines or newspapers, carrying content presented in a complex non-linear content structure, and having the ability to carry many different content types that do not mix well together if provided through a linear content structure.

A typical e-zine might include:

- an editorial;
- a leading article, representing the prevailing topic of a specific e-zine issue;
- supporting articles, clearly structured to show they are secondary to the leading article;
- links to “best of” blog posts in the given timeframe;
- links to the most relevant forum topics and posts;
- a news section;
- a featured client case study;
- different advertisements (banner ads, textual ads, advertorials etc.);
- a featured consultant;
- a Q&A section;
- a featured whitepaper;
- etc.

Providing all of this content demands a complex content structure and a strong and experienced editor. The blog format simply does not provide the level of structure needed to effectively present such a complex content mix.

But that’s not to say that blogs are in any way inferior to e-zines, they’re just different. And businesses need both, and they need to deliver both via RSS and e-mail.

Personal preferences towards content delivery channels and internet content media formats have no place in business. What matters is what our audiences want and how they want it.

About the author:
Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers: http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html?src=sa2
Circulated by Article Emporium 

Meet Agents & Editors

 

These days it’s common knowledge that it’s hard to meet an agent or an editor through an unsolicited mailing. They are more likely to pay attention to a submission coming from someone they have met in person. To that end, writers flock to conferences so they can get some face time with real live agents and editors. And that’s great. I believe writers should get out and network. But those conferences can be pricey. It’s best to combine attending conferences with a few other strategies that are easier on your wallet. Here are 3 you may find useful.

1.) Attend Author Readings

Make a point of keeping track of writers who do work similar to yours. When they’re in the vicinity go hear them read. Sometimes–not all the time–but sometimes the author’s agent and editor will be in the audience. If they aren’t, see if you can steal a few moments with the writer and ask with whom he or she works and whether they have been pleased with the experience. You can either ask for an introduction or contact the people on your own. If you’re going to do the former, first develop a rapport with the writer and stay in touch. They may not feel comfortable referring you to their agent or editor right off the bat, but in time as they get to know you and your work, an introduction may be a possibility.

2.) Attend Classes Offered by Continuing Education Groups Such As The Learning Annex

Agents and editors are in the business of looking for the next hot writer and making a name for themselves in the publishing world. That’s why you’ll often find agents and editors teaching classes related to their work at places such as The Learning Annex, which has locations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston (http://www.learningannex.com). Recent instructors include literary agent Katharine Sands, editor Marcela Landres (formerly of Simon & Schuster) and Vickie M. Stringer, founder and CEO of Triple Crown Publications. The courses can cost as little as $30 or $40 and last about three hours so you have some time to find out if the instructor can help you or point you in the direction of someone who can.

Remember the agent or editor probably has aspiring authors handing them manuscripts all the time, so make sure you stand out from the pack. Have a killer query letter and synopsis (if your book is a novel) or book proposal (for non-fiction works) at the ready. You’ll make a great impression simply because you’re not making them lug a 500-page behemoth home in their briefcase!

3.) Look for Agents and Editors Who Have Their Own Personal Websites

When you come across the name of an agent or editor who may be appropriate for you, Google them to see if they have their own websites with email addresses that may be different from their corporate mailboxes. Some are authors themselves (like literary agent Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel) and have books of their own to promote. Email them and, again, try to develop a rapport and get a sense of what they’re working on and what they’re looking for. It’s best to know as specifically as possible before going through the trouble of making a submission. I recently heard about a writer who submitted to an agent looking for African American authors, but in fact the agent was looking for African American authors who wrote urban romance–which was not the writer’s genre at all.

One Last Note: These ideas should get you started and I hope they’ll inspire you to try other creative routes. It does get easier because you will find that as you go to more events and tell more people what you’re doing, the more likely you will be to find the connector that will build the path between you and your future agent or editor.

© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

About The Author

Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is “The Book Sistah” TM. Get her FREE REPORT, “The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published” and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com  The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com  

Are You Branding?

Are You Branding Yourself?
by: Tom Falco
Are you placing your email address and URL on all correspondence?

Many people forget to add this to important mailings and even their business cards.

Today, most people prefer to email messages than make phone calls, so it is very important to have your email address on all letters, invoices and business cards.

Make sure your URL (web address) is on everything that you send out. Keep “branding” your business. Keep that URL out where it can be seen.

It’s not enough to have your phone number and fax number on your business cards or letterheads. Add your email address and URL if you have one.

It’s important also to have a signature on all  emails that go out. There  is a cool free “signature writing” service at: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com/freeads.htm check it out.

Don’t be left behind. Promote and brand your business every chance you get. It’s the professional thing to do.

Some say it takes up to nine times for people to see your name before they will do business with you. If that is true, then it’s very important to have your name and email address out there.

Try to encourage email exchanges. The more emails you have going back and forth, the more credibility you will build in your potential clien’t head.

Offer something free. Make people email you for information. This way you are opening the door to email correspondence without spamming. Your goal should be to have the person email you first asking for information or just a simple question. Once the ball starts rolling, your various emaile xchanges can easily turn into sales.

It’s important to have a pop account or an account that reflects your company or website.

Using generic @aol.com or @hotmail.com really puts a damperon your look and makes you appear unprofessional. Plus, when you email a person with your own private “branded” email address, you are actually advertising your company  just by the mere action of sending a message.

Joe@bikeseller.com sounds better than joe@aol.com Or Mary@thegiftstore.com is much better than mary@hotmail.com. Isn’t it?

Brand yourself. Brand your business. Do it today.

About the Author

Tom Falco is moderator of “The Swap-O-Rama” List where you can swap anything from ezine ads to hotel rooms and more! For info, visit: http://www.XpectMore.com/Swap.htm or to subscribe mailto:TheSwap-o-rama-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Also “American Pop Trivia List” visit: http://www.XpectMore.com/pop.htm

Next Page »