I want this …
But it needs Canadian financial institutions. Mint, please come to Canada!
Apple’s Sept. 5 iPod Announcement: iPod, iPhone, iPDA, iComputer, iMobile Computing
Apple’s scheduled a Steptember 5th special event: “the beat goes on.”It’s obviously about iPods. My guess is that Apple’s now ready to take the next step. More to the point, the marketplace is finally ready for Apple to release the next evolution in iPod: mobile computing.You already see it in iPhone. And we know that OS X is underpinning future iPods.iPods have been carrying our calendars and notes for years. But it’s always been the sideshow, the off-off-Broadway down-the-lane-to-the-left non-attraction.I think the new iPods are going to take a huge leap in functionality. iPhone’s seamless reading of PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, and more will be part of the iPod experience.It’ll still be the entertainment hub - music, movies, podcasts - that it is. But it’s going to take the next step to a mobile computing platform that includes some of what we currently think of as “business” functionality and some of what we think of as “consumer” functionality - especially games.It would not shock me if concurrent with this unveiling of the new iPod we have an “iSDK,” a software development kit for iPhone and iPod.You read it hear first.
Odeo acquired … what about the content?
Michael Arrington reports that Odeo has just been acquired …
I’m still wondering - as I was earlier this year - what will happen to all the content that has been uploaded.
The last thing I want to see is any links get broken or content get deleted. Lots of people have podcasts on Odeo, and I for one have pieces of personal history, like this last message to my wife from her grandfather before he passed away:
Tags: odeo, sold, sonicmountain, podcast, john koetsier
Kodak: Marketing with balls
Advertising this good deserves recognition:
This is marketing from people who have read the Cluetrain. This is marketing from people who give a damn. This is marketing from people who are having fun.
If all advertising was this good you wouldn’t need to skip commercials.
Tags: ad, advertising, kodak, kodak moment, guts, marketing, john koetsier
Odeo being sold … what about the content?
Obvious Corp is is selling Odeo.
What worries me is whether or not audio I’ve recorded there will survive the transition. Like my wife’s grandfather’s last phone message. Like my my daughter’s thoughts on the Narnia move.
Ev says they’re selling it lock, stock, and barrel:
To clarify, what we’re talking about is selling odeo.com and studio.odeo.com, including all code, the domain, brand, database of three million MP3s, etc. Not a company, but a site and platform that could be ramped up to something much bigger.
… but will there be some kind of clause protecting existing recorded audio? I sure hope so. Any company buying it would be very foolish to immediately anger the existing user community by distrupting access, but you never know.
Tags: odeo, obvious, sale, john koetsier
Recording Skype calls on a Mac
Skype rocks and making group podcasts together could be so easy … if only you could record easily. Here are two apps I’m looking at that will fit the bill.
(Why Skype doesn’t include this option as an extra I’ll have no clue.)
Tags: skype, podcast, mac, record, john koetsier
Small biz blogging: why, how, when, where
Yesterday I met Joe Laudenbach, a Bellingham, WA realtor who is wondering how blogging might be something he could use in his business. As I prepped for the meeting, I jotted down some thoughts on how blogging will fit into his business.
Note: my goal was not to get him blogging, but to give him information that will help him make an informed decision whether or not he wants to start.
Why to blog
- Better SEO
Because blogs are more frequently updated, they’re a major benefit to your site’s search engine optimization … the factors that help you rank higher in search engine results pages. - More interesting site
A blog is usually much more interesting than a website … it’s not corporate, it delivers content in quick hits, it’s more accessible … - More human face to potential clients
Building on the “not corporate” theme, a blog is where your personality comes through - which is attractive (unless you’re Attila the Hun) - Learn and develop more as a person and as a realtor
I learn more from blogging than just about anything else. Simply the process of thinking and writing and writing and listening and linking makes me much more consciously aware of trends and opportunities. The same is true for realtors or virtually any occupation, I believe. - Creative outlet
People who blog regularly come to love blogging as a creative outlet. And I don’t believe there’s a single person alive who isn’t creative to some degree, in some way. Feeding this impulse has personal and professional benefits. - Contacts, conversations, communication
Through blogging I’ve had email contact with Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, and many other major, well-known technology, business, and marketing leaders. They’ve made me smarter. Plus, I’ve had many more contacts with many more people who aren’t so well known … and that’s had even greater benefits. The same can be true for real estate agents or any professional/business people. Jobs, work contacts, and just plain interesting people: blogging can bring all that. It has for me.
Why not to blog
- If you can’t write
Don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to be Hemmingway. But if you absolutely cannot string 2 words together intelligibly, forget it. Find some other way to engage your clients. - If you won’t keep it up
Don’t start if you won’t keep it up. Few things are more pathetic than an orphaned blog. However, don’t get too worried, either. One post a week is not ideal, but it’s perfectly fine for many, many professionals. - If you’re just marketing yourself
If your blog is only going to be about how your company and you are incredibly, stunningly great (not to mention handsome and wealthy) forget it. No-one’s going to read it - one Paris Hilton is enough, thank you very much. - If you’re looking for a quick fix marketing hit
Blogging isn’t a quick fix solution. It’s about telling stories and developing relationships, and those don’t form overnight. Even the blogosphere success stories such as Thomas Mahon blogged for months and months without seeing major results. The good news: all your work is always paying dividends. Old blog posts never die, they just keep attracting hits. - If you’re not comfortable being authentic, real, and non-corporate
Don’t be a stuffed shirt - let your hair down and be real. If you can’t tolerate the slightest mistake, if you can’t speak with anything other than the traditional marcom voice: forget it. It’s boring. It’s just advertising … and people are more adblind now than they’ve ever been.
What to blog about
Note: these are tailored for Joe, who’s a real estate agent. But they’re adaptable to different situations.
- Why people move to Bellingham/Whatcom county
There’s probably 10 or 15 blog posts right here … as many as there are reasons. - What areas are great for kids|seniors|adults
Another 5-7 posts … - Things to do in Bellingham
- Seasonal events
If you do to a harvest festival, blog it. Christmas candlelight parade? Blog it. - House-hunting tips
Keep it to one tip per blog posts … there’s probably an indefinite number of tips here. Organize them in a category so that visitors can see them all. - Top ten house-hunting gotchas
I know I’d love to know what to watch out for when moving … and I’m probably searching for this type of information when I’m about to move, too. - Things you realize AFTER you move in
Wouldn’t we all like to have known this - about a month before moving in. - Stressless moving
How to blog
- Intentional keywords
Be intentional about the keywords you use. Know what people will be searching for when they’re looking to find a home in Whatcom County, WA. Niche it out to the max if you want to rank in search engines, and make sure you use those keywords in titles and posts. - Regularly (at least once a week)
As mentioned above, don’t make an orphan out of your blog. - Naturally
When you’re blogging, you’re a person. Not a company. Talk to people who are also persons as you would talk to someone on the street. Anything else is disrespectful, stuffy, and annoying. - Interview people
Interview key people in your community. This is a great way to expand your circle of contacts, blog about interesting valuable topics, and grow your readership. - Talk to clients
Clients will give you all the blog fodder you need, if you just ask.
Other things to consider
- Other social media
Over time, as you become established in your blog and comfortable with the technology, why not explore other forms of social media? Upload a house video or a neighborhood drive-through to YouTube. Then post it to your blog. Or … - Podcasts
Create a couple of podcasts so that people can hear your voice. This can really give people a sense of who you are and that they know you.
These are a few of the suggestions I had for Joe. I hope that they’re applicable to whatever situations you’re in, whether you’re a small business blogger, a corporate blogger, or a social media consultant. I’d love any feedback you might have, positive or negative.
Questions/opportunties? Looking for help in your social media adventure? Let me know.
Calacanis’ swan-song podcast
Been surfing the last hour or so listening to Jason Calacanis’ goodbye podcast - a little mix of reflection, sentiment, prognostication, consulting.
What a cool way to leave a job.
BTW, good advice to the poor founder of Gizbuzz, who sent a voice email to Jason kind of complaining about working hard blogging and not getting results. (Not like we’ve never heard that story before!)
Jason sorta gently tore a strip off him … the blog is not targeted enough, the entire business is not focused enough, and the “reblogging” thing is just not going to take you to the top. (However, he did like they guy’s youmakemedia blog … which does look like it has prospects to be very cool.)
The reality is that focus and targeting are important things for all of us to consider, myself included … perhaps, myself especially. Some thought-provoking things in that advice.
Tags: calacanis, gizbuzz, podcast, john koetsier
Ze Frank’s numbers: wildly off for an entirely new reason?
I wonder if Ze Frank’s download numbers might be as wildly off as his perception of Rocketboom’s.
Just take a look, if you will, down the page to my Ze Frank post (if you’re on the home page here at bizhack). If not, check out this post on Ze Frank.
Notice something about that linked-in video of Ze’s latest video podcast? It’s loading into the page. And you haven’t clicked it or pressed play.
Ze uses Revver to distribute his video content. Revver must set their videos to start downloading right away as soon as they hit a web page … in contrast to YouTube embedded videos, which only start downloading when a visitor clicks the play button.
Revver might be more user-friendly and ready to go when you’re ready to watch, but YouTube probably has a better sense of which videos have actually been watched.
Which means that Ze Frank may not know whether people have just downloaded the video - or watched it.
. . .
. . .
Comments, insults, suggestions: please comment.
Other bloggers and news on this issue:
Tags: ze frank, the show, rocketboom, analytics, podcasts, video, john koetsier
ze frank: wow
There’s a whole lot of kafuffle right now over Ze Frank and Rocketboom and numbers. Frankly, I don’t care.
All I know is that Ze Frank’s The Show is the perfect video podcast: not too long, not too short, funny, engaging, topical. Here’s a sample:
Impressive.
Tags: ze frank, podcast, video, the show, john koetsier
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Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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