Tuvel Communications Blog: January 2005 Archives

January 29, 2005

Museum of bad album covers: the worst album covers ever!

I've now seen this link 3x so guess it must be a trend.. Here you go, a ~~website~~ museum for the worst album covers. Isn't the Internet a great thing?

Museum of bad album covers: the worst album covers ever!

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Posted by Mitch at 07:55 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 28, 2005

Advertisers: You have lost control of your message. Get over it

Advertisers: You have lost control of your message. Get over it (BuzzMachine)

If you embrace this, I'll just bet you will find something amazing happen: You will find that your customers are better at marketing your products than you are.

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Posted by Mitch at 08:32 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Proven Tactics in Viral Marketing: Online Games, Quizzes, eCards, Contests & Buzz Building

MarketingSherpa takes the time to produce worthwhile resources. You got to pay but for $45.00 (.pdf), this report on viral marketing seems to be a good bet. I have no affiliation with MarketingSherpa but I do like Anne (the owner).

Proven Tactics in Viral Marketing: Online Games, Quizzes, eCards, Contests & Buzz Building.

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Posted by Mitch at 06:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 27, 2005

Blog Business Summit

commoncraft has a nice round-up of posts from the recent Blog Business Summit. You can also check out Techorati for flickr pics and more.

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Posted by Mitch at 11:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Feb. 17, 2005 Blogging & RSS Workshop in Washington DC

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Good stories...

My 6 year old just interrupted to tell me that he has to do interesting things in his life so that he'll have good stories to tell his kids...

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Posted by Mitch at 06:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 26, 2005

Technology hits the pizza business

This note comes from Gary Arlen. Talk about viral marketing, I've already forwarded this to a ton of marketers that I know. I'll be curious to see what this does to the fundraising coffers.

Anyway, check this out!
-----------
Gary says:

Here's a timely and appropriate message for electronic marketers .. with a link at the end to the "real" provider. Fascinating use of a Web campaign with humor and a point. It came from Canada, as you'll hear in a few phrases.

Here's the link! Turn up your volume...

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Posted by Mitch at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 25, 2005

Craigslist and cottage industries

It's not an apples to apples comparison but while people have been debating HTML vs text for years, craigslist has built a business out of the lowest common denominator-- really plain text with no graphics. (originally seen on Susan Mernit's blog)

Craigslist and cottage industries

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Posted by Mitch at 10:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Report: Surfers Can't Differentiate Search Results from Sponsored Ads

This comes from Potomac Tech Wire. Is this a surprising report? That surfers can't tell the difference (on a search engine) between search results and ads?

==============
Jan 25 Report: Surfers Can't Differentiate Search Results from Sponsored Ads

Washington, DC -- Only 18% of adult U.S. Internet users can tell the
difference between actual search results and paid ads on search
engines,
according to a survey conducted by the DC-based Pew Internet and
American Life Project. Such paid, or "sponsored," search results, which
appear on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other engines, are typically placed
above or to the right of actual results, often in a different-colored
box.
Forty-five percent of those surveyed said they would stop using search
engines if they thought they weren't being clear about offering some
results for pay. Overall, the survey found that 38 million Americans
use a
search engine each day, more than half of the U.S. Internet population.
The average user spends a total of 43 minutes a month conducting some
34 searches.

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Posted by Mitch at 05:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 24, 2005

Google preventing comment spam

Google Blog

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Preventing comment spam

If you're a blogger (or a blog reader), you're painfully familiar with people who try to raise their own websites' search engine rankings by submitting linked blog comments like "Visit my discount pharmaceuticals site." This is called comment spam, we don't like it either, and we've been testing a new tag that blocks it. From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel="nofollow") on hyperlinks, those links won't get any credit when we rank websites in our search results. This isn't a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it's just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.

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Posted by Mitch at 09:16 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Sell Side Advertising

A VC: Sell Side Advertising (from gaping void)

I only heard about this concept a couple days ago, but I am convinced that this is how the market is going to evolve.

There is a huge imbalance between the demand for pay for performance advertising and the ability to meet it right now. And the reason is that there are huge inefficiencies in the market.

And, this found in the comments:

Yeah, affiliate marketers have been doing this for year. I know people who've generated millions in commission revenues just working from home with Google AdWords.

That's millions in commission revenues - gross revenues are much higher.

Google recently changed the rules for affiliates, making it harder to do this now, but the basic concept is pretty simple.

Posted by: Derek Scruggs | January 22, 2005 05:44 PM

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January 23, 2005

Microsoft Cites IP Defense in Blogger Crackdown

On the heels of Apple Computer's attempt to crack down on journalists for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets,

some free-speech advocates are worried that Microsoft has launched a similar campaign.

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Net mourns death of Johnny Carson

Net mourns death of Johnny Carson

The Internet on Sunday mourned the death of Johnny Carson, the legendary late-night TV host for nearly 30 years.

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Cynthia Webb: Filter's Farewell

Cynthia Webb, a longtime fixture in the Washington, DC tech reporting scene, has just written her last column and entered the Blogosphere. You can follow Cynthia's new column The Scan here.

(registration req'd for Wash Post links above)

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Posted by Mitch at 09:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 22, 2005

Subject lines matter!

Well, here's a surprise-- in RSS feeds, Subject lines matter. Like with email, if you want to get it opened, make sure you tell people what's inside. More:

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

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Posted by Mitch at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 21, 2005

Buzz-Makers: More Disclosure, Please

Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc.: Buzz-Makers: More Disclosure, Please

The first product is a bidet. I'm not making this up. And I'm not going provide any details on how I'm using it :-). (I crack myself up...)
Marc

Posted by: Marc Andreessen | January 21, 2005 03:26 PM

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January 20, 2005

How to Write Killer Blog Posts and More Compelling Comments

B.L. Ochman, former moderator of i-pr, has a short read on blog writing (TechnoFlak)

B.L. Ochman's weblog - How to Write Killer Blog Posts and More Compelling Comments.

o Write less
Omit all unnecessary words. The best advice I ever got about writing was from my first boss, the late "press agent" Leo Miller, who taught me a game to play with sentences. He'd keep taking out words until removing one more word destroyed the meaning of the sentence. For example: He'd take out words until removing another destroyed the sentence meaning.

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Posted by Mitch at 12:28 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 19, 2005

"the year in which we witnessed the beginning of a tipping point in advertising."

Yahoo Profit Rises Dramatically (free sub. req'ed)

Yahoo Inc. yesterday reported hefty gains in revenue and profit for the fourth quarter and all of 2004, a period that Terry S. Semel, the company's chief executive, referred to as "the year in which we witnessed the beginning of a tipping point in advertising."

The surge in Yahoo profit, officials said, was largely attributable to dramatic increases in ad dollars spent by businesses selling products and promoting their images on the Internet, a sign of the increasingly mainstream nature of Internet advertising, both in the United States and abroad.

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Posted by Mitch at 09:07 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 18, 2005

Mickey Rooney’s rear end and why you should care about it.

Bob Larsons, of registration provider Go Daddy, has an interesting post on Mickey Rooney’s rear end and how this banned Super Bowl commercial relates to the First Amendment and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

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Posted by Mitch at 01:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 17, 2005

WSJ: Dean Campaign Made Payments To Two Bloggers

More on the recent WSJ article about the Dean campaign paying bloggers to write good things:

* excerpts from the article

* from Kos:

Sat Jan 15th, 2005 at 15:46:59 PST

For those of you unable to listen to the podcast of this interview here's a transcript I typed up due to the fact that I have entirely too much time on my hands.

* Jeff Jarvis has an interesting post on Zephyr Teachout's recent post that seems to be stirring this pot.

* Laura Gross, who spoke to the WSJ, had this to say about the story:

I know many of you have questions so I wanted to give you the full story. I am sorry I have not responded sooner, I have been traveling all day with Gov. Dean and I'm in St. Louis now. Thank you for your messages and e-mails . . . here's the full story:

So I got a call Thursday from the Jeanne Cummings, The Wall Street Journal reporter who covered the Dean campaign. By all accounts, she did a fine job -- covered all aspects of the campaign, even met the Web team and wrote a long story on their work. She was calling, she said, on behalf of some of her paper's reporters in Boston who were looking into a story about the campaign and the blogs.

She said she thought she knew what was going on, and we talked "on background" so she could "just clear things up once and for all" -- that is, not for attribution. By the end of the conversation she had confirmed what she thought -- that there was no news, that this was what she called a "dead story" -- and said that she didn't think there would be any article at all, much less one that mentioned Dean. She said that if for some reason she needed a quote she'd call me back.

Next thing I know there appears in the WSJ an article so sloppy and so inaccurate that I spent the morning trying to track Jeanne down to find out what happened. She called me back at 10:30 a.m. -- and actually apologized for the article (written by two colleagues). She said that she wouldn�t work with those reporters in the same capacity again, would only give them on-the-record quotes and assured me that she had notified her editors.

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January 14, 2005

Online Communities: Fusions of Silicon and Flesh

This piece comes from Ohmynews:

Online Communities: Fusions of Silicon and Flesh

Starting from the U.S. Defense Department's ARPANET information network, the Internet is entering its 35th year. The Internet only began to have an influence on the general population, however, after the graphic-based web browser "Netscape" appeared in 1995, meaning this year would represent the 10th year of the popularization of the medium. How has the Internet changed the world over the last 10 years?

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Posted by Mitch at 11:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 13, 2005

More transparency, more Simon Rosenberg

Zephyr Teachout, formally of the Dean online campaign, says that Simon Rosenberg hired Matt Stoller presumably not just because he’s got good ideas, but because he already has a “commentator,” “spokesperson,” role within the blogging media.

In other words, matt got paid...

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January 12, 2005

Your timing really stinks Joe

Joe Trippi endourses Simon Rosenberg, of the New Democratic Network, for DNC Chair. Joe's post is OK but check out the comments-- interesting stuff...

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Posted by Mitch at 11:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 11, 2005

Howard Dean and the DNC

Howard Dean announces, on his blog of course, his candidacy for DNC Chairman (from commoncraft)

I'm Running

As I have traveled across our country, I have talked to thousands of people who are working for change in their own communities about the power of politics to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. Every group I have spoken to, I encouraged them to stand up for what they believe and to get involved in the electoral process—because the only sure way to make difference is to step up and run for office yourself.

Today, I'm announcing my candidacy for the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

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Posted by Mitch at 11:39 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 10, 2005

Most Hated Advertising Techniques (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

A recent column from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox.

Most Hated Advertising Techniques (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox).

People often have strong negative visceral reactions to ads that commit the sins listed in the table. One user, referring to an ad that automatically started playing audio, wrote: "IF ANYTHING COULD BE WORSE THAN POP-UPS, THIS IS IT. I HATE THIS AD. HATE HATE HATE."

Another user entered the following comment on a major website's feedback form: "You people should be ashamed of yourself! I did not ask to have 3 pop ups come across my screen when I visit you. I do not visit singles sites, and I don't want to add 4 inches.

As a matter of fact, I don't use any of the services that pop up on my screen. I think it is disgusting that you money hungry bastards have infringed on my computer for your own selfish gain. From this moment on, I am boycotting you, and I am advising EVERYONE I know to do the same thing. Down with you and your pop up ads."

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Posted by Mitch at 03:00 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

January 09, 2005

Two's company, three's a `community'

Passed along by webcommunities:

MercuryNews.com | 01/09/2005 | Two's company, three's a `community'

Although ``community'' has been a hackneyed term for decades -- terms such as the ``black community,'' the ``gay community,'' the ``international disaster-relief community'' and the ``investor community'' have long been over-applied to diverse and often fractured realms -- the Internet has provided a spaceless ``place'' for communities to convene. Indeed, there you will find not only the ferret lover community but also the ``Zitlover'' community. (Don't believe? Google.)

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Posted by Mitch at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 07, 2005

The Word-of-Mouth Ethics Challenge

More on word of mouth marketing and pending Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) ethics council guidelines. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out with the Viral and Buzz Marketing Association's Manifesto.

The Word-of-Mouth Ethics Challenge

Ironically, the growing popularity of the new marketing techniques is one of the dangers. Proving the old adage that no publicity is bad publicity, BzzAgent reports receiving 250 inbound leads from potential clients and sign-ups from about 5,000 new BzzAgents in the week after the Times piece ran.

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Posted by Mitch at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 05, 2005

RSSTop55 - Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites - Robin Good' Sharewood Tidings

In addition to exposure through SEO and SEM, marketers should also be submitting to blog and RSS directories. (originally seen on Duct Tape Marketing).

RSSTop55 - Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites - Robin Good' Sharewood Tidings.

Where To Submit My RSS Feeds And Weblog URLs To Get More Exposure, Visibility And Reach

As more and more people get involved with the Internet and as more Web sites, blogs, news services and other online resources continue to grow in number and variety it becomes increasingly important to maintain high visibility and exposure for the content being generated by closely following the major distribution media.

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Posted by Mitch at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More transparency

The Education Dept. paid commentator Wiliams $241,000 to promote the administration's No Child Left Behind law. Only problem is that he didn't tell viewers or anyone else that he was on the payroll.

Media distributor severs ties with commentator

WASHINGTON — Armstrong Williams, who was paid by the Education Department to promote President Bush's education policies, says the public outcry and his firing by the company that syndicated his newspaper column are "the price you pay" for a mistake.

updates: Jay Rosen, of Pressthink, weighs in on the Ketchum/Williams affair:

Bloggers Are Missing in Action as Ketchum Tests the Conscience of PR

"Maybe this is the way things are done all the time in PR today. It's one of the most plausible explanations we have for the Ketchum contract, the apparent fraudulence of which is roughly parallel to the memos in the Dan Rather case."

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January 04, 2005

Missed opportunity

With all of the good press that companies like Amazon and Apple are getting for helping out tsunami relief efforts, it's surprising to see this global firm's homepage broadcast the message but not include a link...

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Posted by Mitch at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

January 03, 2005

Zack Rosen's advice for the News & Record

More citizen journalism... This advice for the Greensboro News & Record Newspaper comes from Zack Rosen-- founder of CivicSpace and nephew of Jay Rosen. Jay actually began the conversation about this newspaper here.

Zack Rosen: My Advice for the News & Record

My Uncle Jay gave me a writing assignment last Thursday:

I want 400 words from you on what you think the News & Record and the bloggers of Greensboro should do...

I’ve been enjoying my nearly two year school work hiatus but there was no getting out of this one.

"Look to Kos. He has a real community. 10,000+ active particpants regularly participate in his space. They converse, peer-moderate, scheme, and organize day in and day out on his site. They come up with incredible ideas, rally their fellow 'kossacks' around them, and galvanize them into action..."

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Posted by Mitch at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 02, 2005

Tsunami update from Chennai, India

The following was recently posted to the AdMarketing list.

-----Original Message-----
From: Prashant P Kothari [mailto:ppkothari@stringinfo.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 1:20 AM
To: mitch@tuvel.com
Cc: ppkothari@stringinfo.com
Subject: Tsunami update from Chennai, India

Hi Mitch Pls forward this to Ad-Marketers and any other list you deem appropriate

Tsunami update:

I'm in Chennai currently. I went to school and college in this city, normally a peaceful, placid place. This disaster is unparalleled in Chennai's history -

The quake per se had minimal effect, at least in Chennai. Not too sure about other places - I hear that the entire island of Sumatra has been displaced by 100 feet! That should tell you how powerful the earthquake was

The tsunamis were the real killers in South India, Sri Lanka and the islands of the Indian Ocean (Andaman, Nicobar, Thailand, Maldives). Tsunamis don't really gain height until they're very close to the shore. And given their tremendous speeds, (up to 500 miles per hour), the danger was evident too late if you were unlucky enough to be on the water or near the shore.

Fishermen and their families..

Tourists and early morning strollers..

Children playing cricket on the beaches.

All gone.

And the death toll continues to mount.

A plea to all: even $10 can make a difference.

Some relief agencies that my staff and I have donated to

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
http://www.oxfam.org/eng/
http://www.redcross.org/index.html
http://www.savethechildren.org

There's information about other agencies and all other aspects of this disaster on Tsunami Help Blog at http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com.

A somber ending to 2004.

Peace to all and best wishes for 2005

Regards
Prashant

*********************************************************************
Prashant P Kothari
String Information Services:
Business Process Outsourcing Services from India
http://www.stringinfo.com
v: 1-888-3-String (1-888-378-7464) X 702
f: 202-478-0779
e: ppkothari@stringinfo.com
***************************************************************

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Posted by Mitch at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 01, 2005

Arafat, wealthy investor: bar mitzvahs and kosher catering

The American Thinker had an interesting piece on Yasser Arafat's various holding companies and investments. This originally comes from LGF.

Bloomberg News did the in-depth piece on Arafat's 799M (that's Million $) in investments. For Washingtonians-- be on the lookout for locally names (tech) companies here.

UPDATE: So, did they know or not?

Co. lauded for returning Palestinian money

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Posted by Mitch at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tsunami Devastation

From Simon Phipps's WebMink:

Using the images from DigitalGlobe, I've built an animation that shows the shocking, apocalyptic effect of the tsunami on Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra. Click here for a larger, slower version (1.4Mb).

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