Healthy Blog Reviews

As the definition of a journalist gets stretched to the outer limits due to the proliferation of content farms and $10 per ‘article’ writers, it’s understandable that there is some concern in the ranks. It’s not there won’t be outlets for their work but it’s more about the state of the traditional outlets where most have made their living. Mashable reports on a recent survey which reveal these concerns In a survey conducted over May and June this year, PR network Oriella asked media moguls how the Internet was affecting their business, their publishing formats and even the quality of the content issuing forth from their newsrooms. In a survey of 770 journalists across 15 countries, the company determined that, while media creators are slightly more optimistic than they were last year about maintaining revenues vis-a-vis the rise of online ad budgets, many are still worried about whether traditional media formats can succeed in the long run. “Concerns about the viability of journalists’ traditional media channels (print, radio or television) have intensified,” the report reads. Of course, loss of advertising dollars leads the way for concern about viability of traditional media offerings. Since more and more people are moving online for their news, there will be fewer dollars available from advertisers who can support the kind of staffs that these outlets traditionally require. Since most people can see the chain reaction of these concerns the next obvious worry is if their traditional offline mediums will survive or just go away (if that hasn’t happened already). In the end, there may be no stopping these sweeping changes. Many act as if it’s the fault of the traditional media themselves but it’s really just people changing and moving to where they are more comfortable. Online is that place and not’s because the traditional media was bad. Where the trouble has come is the slow pace of adaption by traditional media of the online space. In essence, they have created their own troubles by waiting too long and having to react to this paradigm shift rather than help mold it. Traditional media, for the most part, missed a golden opportunity. Why did they miss it? I think it was because they were getting fat and happy by being unchallenged at the top of the media heap for too long. At that point you can lose your edge. They have simply lost their edge. With businesses being run by human beings this will happen. Most people want to go into cruise control when things are going well but they unfortunately lose focus at that point and are vulnerable to being replaced. Since I am part of the ‘new media’ side of the coin it’s easy to lob criticism at the traditional side of the media. The trouble with that is that I then become no better and could very well suffer the same consequences. For new media to really thrive we have to stay on top of the issues that face our industry as well. The primary one that I see is maintaining a high level of quality. With content farms churning out content that is more of a crapshoot with regards to quality this can end up being trouble. If enough readers and content consumers get burned they will look elsewhere for information. Delivery methods may change but quality never goes out of style. Right now, the online publishing world needs to be very vigilant regarding the state of the quality of content. There’s plenty of talk but little action and as the content farm mentality gains momentum the window of opportunity to take this problem by the horns is closing very rapidly. Could the online space suffer a similar fate to the offline space? Could the proliferation of lower quality content create enough discontent amongst content consumers that they will look elsewhere? Of course, where are they going to look, back to the offline space? Not necessarily but they may have less patience thus making it hard for even online entities to keep advertisers interested. So what’s your take?

Tags: content, definition, news, Offline, online, proliferation, quality, state, traditional, work
Posted July 24, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

This weekend, the eyes and ears of the world are focused on San Diego as a crowd of over 120,000 descend on the city for Comic-Con! What started out in the 70’s as a small gathering of scifi and comic fans has grown into the media event of the year. And despite the name, it’s not all about comics. Actually, it’s tough to even find a booth devoted to comics in the deluge of TV, movie, video game and toy brands that flood the convention floor. That’s because the convention has become the place to get the buzz going about nearly any media project and that’s marketing money well spent. So in honor of this yearly media-madhouse, I give you 5 Marketing Lessons You Can Learn from Comic-Con 5. Think Small Comic Con got its legs by appealing to a very specific niche audience and even though the con has grown to include other properties, the sci-fi / comic crowd still rules. By continuing to cater to the niche, instead of turning the con into a more mainstream convention, Comic-Con has developed the kind of brand loyalty most businesses only dream of. Look at the potential audience for your product or service? Is there an underrepresented group that you can cater to? That small focus could lead to big returns. 4. Learn the Art of the Tease As soon as you get within blocks of the San Diego Convention Center you’re bombarded with cryptic messages by way of handouts, posters and even banners pulled by airplanes. The messages are all part of a giant puzzle designed to get you interested in a brand you may not even know about yet. Like the teaser videos shown at the con, these bits and pieces pull in the audience and give them something to talk about. Done right, a teaser can generate ten times the buzz of a straight-forward advertising campaign and it’s not hard to do. Anyone can build a scavenger hunt into their website or leave weekly Facebook clues that add up to the location of a giveaway page. Which leads me to. . . 3. Make it an Event The World Cup. The Olympics. Comic-Con. You may thing that’s a ridiculous comparison but take a look around. Every major media outlet is covering Comic-Con from Entertainment Weekly to the Wall Street Journal to  CNN . Comic-Con and related topics will trend all weekend on Twitter and Google. And right now, Google news is showing over 1,000 articles on the subject posted in the last 24 hours. Now, you’re not going to launch an event of this size overnight, but you can create an event sale or a Twitter party or a Facebook virtual meet-up. Make it a special date and people will come. 2. People Love Free Stuff One of the things people love most about Comic-Con is the swag bag. A trip around the convention floor is like Halloween for fan boys and girls as studios hand out millions of dollars worth of free buttons, T-shirts, DVDs, comic books and clever tie-in items. Warner Brothers does a yearly bag giveaway that creates riot conditions on the convention floor whenever they hand them out. The bags are so popular and so anticipated, that it has become a kind of badge of honor to collect all of them in a weekend. Never underestimate the power of a giveaway. 1. Have Fun No one takes themselves too seriously at Comic-Con. Costumed fans mingle with big name celebs and everyone is having a good time. But when they pack up the tents on Sunday night, you can rest assured that people will go home wanting to see that new movie or try that new video game. I’m not saying you have to put a funny video on your website, but it wouldn’t hurt to add some humor to your weekly email, or develop a game application that goes along with your product. If people enjoy the experience, they’ll come back for more. Comic-Con is proof that any small idea can turn into a lucrative business if you have the drive to see it through. May the Marketing Force be with you.

Tags: cnn, facebook, flickr, halloween, location, marketing, media, product, street, vampire-diaries, video-game
Posted July 24, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

A few days ago Google launched a new “image search” user interface to the public. If you haven’t tried it yet you should go ahead and give it whirl–after reading this post. My first impression was wow! I really like how the images are positioned in a way that maximizes all available screen real estate. As I continued to search for images and test out the new UI, I had this feeling of deja vu. Something didn’t seem right with this search feature. For some reason it felt like I had used this before. And, then it dawned on me! Certain aspects of Google’s new image search resemble Bing’s image search. The most notable similarity is the absence of pagination navigation at the bottom. This feature change alone on a search engine can stick out like a sore thumb and create a remarkable difference in other similar image search engines like Yahoo for example. Many say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. But in business, there’s sometimes is a fine line between flattery and insult. And when the corporation at hand can drop millions in legal fees on a daily basis, the insult can have a devastating impact. But if you are Google that doesn’t matter. Why doesn’t it matter if Google blatantly copies the features of its competitors? It doesn’t matter because Google dominates a majority of the market. Which means that the vast majority of the folks running image searches have never even tried Bing’s innovative features. Likewise it doesn’t matter if Kevin Spacey imitates well know actors because let’s face it, it’s an honor to be imitated by Kevin Spacey! Having a strong brand isn’t just about making more money or building trust. Often times it’s also about playing by a different set of rules, and sometimes creating your own. So as you grow your business remember that even though there are other ways to create revenue streams, nothing can replace the power of strong brand.

Tags: Business, cloud-computing, cloud-hosting, corporation, images, matter-if-kevin, Search, search-engine, then-it-dawned, Yahoo
Posted July 24, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media