tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:40:41 +0000http://www.ideasthatwork.net/thoughts.phpnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)Blogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-4379327917886410149Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:53:00 +00002008-06-18T09:05:26.818-05:00 Sad but true, no one really cares how great your company is, how awesome the people are in your service department, the cool tagline. No one really cares about the fluffy text, fancy flash or any of the multitude of things that people tend to put on their websites. But there is a good side to this rather negetive post: When you keep the "no one really cares" in mind, you'll be more likely to http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/06/no-one-really-caresnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-2969317236468421775Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:56:00 +00002008-06-10T08:20:00.717-05:00search engine optimizationOpen Directoryinternet marketingHard to believe but DMOZ - the Open Directory Project - is 10 years old. This little mentioned icon to the web has remained the only totally free, totally human edited directory. The volunteers who review the sites are located, literally, all over the globe -over 80,000 at last count. Yahoo began with a similar concept but, within a few years, added web search to compete with Google. The http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/06/happy-birthday-dmoznoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-3014478492882534493Thu, 22 May 2008 16:57:00 +00002008-05-22T11:57:54.602-05:00It's an election year!  To celebrate here is a list of items to remember about links, the voters of the internet. 1. Think Election!  Each link gives your site a "vote" in terms of good information, popularity, relevance etc.  The more links, the more votes and we all know that the person with the most votes wins! 2. Win the primaries in the best states. Remember that it's http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/05/links-webs-version-of-electionnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-3425495034864230510Tue, 13 May 2008 20:34:00 +00002008-05-13T15:35:28.426-05:00I just received my monthly issue of Website Magazine. Hard to believe that I started in this industry over 10 years ago when there was literally nothing but a bunch of online geeks - now we have 2 industry magazines! But I digress . . . This month there was an article about press releases and although I find myself telling people that press releases are a good way to promote their business, I http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/05/press-releasenoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-3118219821185928729Mon, 12 May 2008 14:47:00 +00002008-05-12T09:51:47.377-05:00In a quest to be all things to all people it's easy to get caught up in trying to fill your front page with everything imaginable. Does too much stuff make your page undesirable to visitors? To search engines? Yahoo has applied for a patent that includes a new application that will rank pages according to their "clutter" factor. This is an excerpt from the patent application: "It can be http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/05/clutter-cutter_12noreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-8244048898790611785Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:37:00 +00002008-03-30T13:59:30.907-05:00The figures just came out for home internet users in February (tracked by Nielsen Online). Over 150 million people use internet at home everyday in the United States alone. If you don't think this represents a part of your potential customer base, think again! Another recent survey of over 13,000 Internet users aged 18 and older conducted in February 2008 (by Burst Media) found that people http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/03/who-is-your-target-marketnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-342836570629513113Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:50:00 +00002008-03-26T21:15:18.876-05:00Google's "search within search" feature has many people who use the popular search engine a bit more than concerned. On the surface, it sounds benign but the larger ramifications have people wondering just who's side Google is on. If you haven't seen the change on Google, in the new listings if a site has a "google search" box it now appears in the page listing. The problem is that the second http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/03/google-friend-or-foenoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-7625153513767199643Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:56:00 +00002008-03-25T13:08:24.324-05:00 If you are as excited as I am about the rising temperature, budding trees and blooming flowers then you know that spring has finally arrived! Now is the time for another popular spring activity - cleaning! I mean your website of course! Now is a great time to review the content and links on your site to make sure that everything is up to date and works properly. It's also time to give your http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/03/spring-has-sprungnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-5228498500510960986Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:02:00 +00002008-01-14T15:04:53.580-06:00If you've read my blog before you no doubt remember that I am a follower of Seth Godin. Today he posted an interesting list so here is a blatant repost with credit to the author: Encyclopedia salesmen hate wikipedia... And CNET hates Google And newspapers hate Craigslist And music labels hate Napster And used bookstores hate Amazon And so do independent bookstores. Dating services http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/01/blatant-repostnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-2585982895613152235Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:48:00 +00002008-01-11T09:55:07.504-06:00The answer: Plenty when it comes to search engine marketing! Everything from images to links to page headlines need to have a well worded name because each of these elements can help boost your page rank. Images - when saving an image, be sure to give the image a name that is keyword rich and search engine worthy. Don't be afraid to use dashes to better name your image. Links - you can http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2008/01/whats-in-namenoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-6728180830186012254Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:26:00 +00002007-11-06T16:33:25.405-06:00Isn't it amazing how some people can look at a truck and see a truck, while someone else can look at a truck and see, well, an advertisement opportunity? Today I had lunch with one of my clients, Jesse Zogleman. I've known and worked with Jesse for about 6 years now and he is one of those people who is constantly on the go, always thinking of the next big thing. Today's next big thing blew mehttp://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/11/out-of-boxnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-553003618641935468Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:36:00 +00002007-10-11T11:38:35.303-05:00This one is straight from Seth Godin - and I can't think of a single way to improve upon it. Here are principles I think you can’t avoid: 1. Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a dealbreaker. 2. Change the interaction. What makes great websites great is that they are simultaneously effortless and new at the same timehttp://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/10/how-to-create-great-websitenoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-938968143834860004Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:47:00 +00002007-10-11T11:57:51.011-05:00I just got back from visiting Becky Cooper, a client in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Aside from the long drive, the trip was a great opportunity to visit a place I've never been and learn more about my client's local competition and value proposition. Becky has a very nice, comfortable get-away with custom cabins and cottages. One of the first things that you notice when checking in is the lack http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/10/trip-to-eureka-springsnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-4614475591283823676Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:08:00 +00002007-09-20T08:28:29.387-05:00I am a faithful reader of Seth Godin, once you've read his blog I'm sure you'll get hooked as well. Today I read something that made me stop and think about the analytics programs we use and how we are interpreting the information. In particular, the average number of pages a visitor looks at on each site. The average is the "mean" number if you remember your math and is calculated by the http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/09/little-mathnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-25805839577900122Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:39:00 +00002007-09-15T14:12:28.806-05:00The great thing about living at this time in history is the sheer number of choices we have when it comes to virtually everything. Choices about where to bank, what channels and what types of television, where to get our phone service, what kind of phone and internet service to use - everyday we make thousands of choices. Surfing the web gives many choices as well. What search engine you http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/09/choicesnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-3961822005686774575Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:53:00 +00002007-09-06T12:12:49.298-05:00Everyone would love to have their product, hotel, agency, service talked about by others (in a positive light) and have the referrals that are generated by word of mouth. But what is it that makes this type of viral marketing really work? Is it the ability of a marketing company to get the information about YOU into the hands of the "right" person? The right person in this case being the "http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/09/what-makes-viral-marketing-viralnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-5726582199068646396Thu, 23 Aug 2007 02:28:00 +00002007-08-22T21:38:40.460-05:00web design tipscommon senseMany people use the phrase "common sense" but is common sense really all that common? Take, for example, how we assume that the cold water faucet is on the right and the hot is on the left. Because we may have been raised with cold on the right and hot on the left we think that now makes sense... but what about the rare occasion when a plumber is having a bad day and now the cold is on the http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/08/is-common-sense-really-all-that-commonnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-8380040498871659408Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:55:00 +00002007-09-06T21:52:20.416-05:00 It's that time again - kids of all ages are going back to school. And it looks like I will be too! Yes - that yearning to learn has bitten and I've decided to supplement my professional development by pursuing my doctorate in psychology. Specifically, the study of human factors. What does that mean exactly? Well it turns out that psychologists are the people who are most interested in http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/08/human-factorsnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-7753196843325474633Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:19:00 +00002007-08-17T10:30:56.326-05:00You never know what you don't know until you find out you didn't know it... In other words - Wow! I had no idea the hunting industry was such a big business. I guess my first clue should have been Cabella's and Gander Mountain. But when recently speaking to the Kansas Sport Hunters Association I really learned a lot about what it takes to host hunters, where the game comes from and how big thehttp://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/08/what-you-dont-knownoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-6531913701271787746Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:06:00 +00002007-07-10T09:17:10.782-05:00So if you are a Sprint / Nextel customer and you've called customer service too often beware - you could be "fired." In an interesting move Sprint decided to cancel service to customers who have made too many calls for a variety of reasons including billing or "other general information." From a business standpoint - how much time (dollars) will they save in the customer service department vs. http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/07/gutsy-movenoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-6566179224784622982Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:48:00 +00002007-06-20T18:52:54.859-05:00Okay, every once in a while you come across something that just makes your day... especially when you've had a very bad day... So here it is - Clientcopia.com - where you can take comfort in knowing that other people have "interesting" customer situations too. Seeing that you can actually add your own experiences I decided to submit a couple of ours late last night. Today I found that one of http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/06/something-to-brag-aboutnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-6081413342735603881Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:15:00 +00002007-06-04T13:45:43.787-05:00Okay so maybe I haven't blogged about Google in maybe... 3 posts. The New York Times recently had an excellent article about Google and the way they go about making sure everyone gets the best search results possible. Of particular interest to me was how they note "broken searches" and out of a simple complaint of a broken search for "teak patio Palo Alto" turned into a change in algorithms http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/06/secret-equationnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-3366229491984007735Wed, 30 May 2007 18:31:00 +00002007-05-30T13:48:59.554-05:00Today over lunch I was talking with a friend who was telling me that the lowest score "acceptable" on a Master of Social Work test was 70%. Isn't that like a "C." Why only 70%? Doctors and lawyers surely have to have a "B" average or better? Would you want a doctor to work on you if all he could remember on the test was 70% of the material? (Does that omit the appendix and tonsils? Nohttp://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/05/lowering-expectationsnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-130205666872585158Tue, 29 May 2007 21:15:00 +00002007-05-29T16:30:14.522-05:00wikipediabrandingwikipositioningI had a colleague who used to say that people or things were "issue-fied" and I learned to appreciate that verb. Whenever something consistently didn't work it was "issue-fied." Whenever a person seemed to attract more than his or her own share of gloom, doom and darkrooms, they were "issue-fied." We all learned to try to avoid these people and things. Life was just easier that way. Todayhttp://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/05/wiki-fiednoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38191224.post-5922143690948689531Wed, 23 May 2007 14:34:00 +00002007-05-23T09:44:51.516-05:00Google is steadily introducing what they call "universal search." Any person using Google will soon be able to get results that include books, video, websites, images etc. all rolled into one search. Question: How closely is this linked to "personal search?" We know that Google has been using personal data to generate search engine results. So what may be a page positioned in the number 2http://www.ideasthatwork.net/2007/05/universally-speakingnoreply@blogger.com (Teajai)