Wednesday, June 30, 2010

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Google Apps For Education Wins Two More States, Rolls Out Training Tools For Teachers

Google has made it fairly clear that adoption of Google Apps at schools and colleges is vital to the growth of the productivity suite as a whole. The strategy makes sense; not only do educational institutions represent a huge market for Google Apps, but schools and colleges are where many people get trained, start relying on, and form brand allegiances to productivity apps. Today, Google is announcing

that it has signed on two more states, Colorado and Iowa, to extend Google Apps for Education to the 3,000 schools across the two states.

The two states join Oregon, which was the first state

to adopt Google Apps for Education in its schools. One of the advantages of “going” Google is the productivity suite’s attractive price point for public schools that are on a budget.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is essential to our education system as well. I feel, as a parent, our kids will have to maneuver in technology more than any other generation ever has. It makes sense to start early.
Teach parents and kids that learning can be fun and educational at the same time.

Posted via email from Strategic Themes

Social Media Marketing Is NOT Free

Jun

27

Larry BraunerSocial media is free, but marketing is not free. Marketing requires work, work demands time and, as the saying goes, time is money.

Since marketing isn’t free, social media marketing can’t be free either.

The corporate world recognizes the cost of social media marketing and is overwhelmed with ROI concerns. Small business owners, on the other hand, tend to remain pretty much in denial and haven’t fully accepted that social media marketing entails a very substantial labor cost.

It is imperative that marketers come to terms with the high cost of social media initiatives and then make a business case for social media marketing by assessing social marketing’s many potential benefits.

-->

Comments

3 Responses to “Social Media Marketing Is NOT Free”

  1. Mana I. on June 27th, 2010 7:45 pm

    Very good piece! I remember the days when everyone thought (some still do) that email marketing was free… It’s the same story, different channel.

  2. Larry Brauner on June 27th, 2010 7:49 pm

    You definitely hit the nail on the head with your analogy, Mana.

  3. Aysha on June 27th, 2010 8:13 pm

    I agree marketing takes a lot of time and effort..and even money at times..but when the results start showing..they will be worth it..I hope!

Leave a Reply

This is ABSOLUTELY so true. It takes some serious time scheduling. Even then, the amount of set up time and maintenance time is crazy.

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Reason 4 why soccer is the best sport in the world

Will Twitter and Facebook Boost Your Business? - Social Media Consultant Toronto

Shoebox » Chuck & Beans

A Simple Blogging Formula

blogging formula

In all my years of blogging, I’ve put together what serves as a very simple formula for what I think about when I sit down to the keyboard to type. This might not serve everyone, but it might be a great start for you to consider when thinking about blogging. Also, let me know how close this relates to your own blogging methods.

A Simple Blogging Formula

I try to blog almost every day. I believe that daily gets more people back more often and keeps attention levels high. Many people will disagree with this, saying that it’s important to only blog when you have decent content and something worth saying. Here’s the thing: I always have something I feel is worth saying. I have months more ideas than I have time to write them. So first, and foremost, my assumption is that frequency matters. Look at how many people are subscribed to my blog via RSS (around 50K daily). That number grows the faster I post. It levels out on weeks when I slow down.

Let’s go through the formula:

Step 1: Decide WHAT the Post Should DO for You

I write posts for several purposes:

  • To get a call to action.
  • To attract business.
  • To promote someone else.
  • To get links and bookmarks and reblogs.
  • To get a conversation started.

But I don’t do all of those things in every post. I start each post with a plan of what I want it to do. This post? I want you to reblog, to link, to bookmark, etc. That’s all. No solid call to action. Just some more inbound links.

Step 2: How Can I Be Helpful?

Every post that gets real traction on my blog comes from the mindset of being helpful to others. Other sites report news. TechCrunch, Mashable, Perez Hilton. Those sites rely on you to want what’s new. In my case, I rely on you wanting tips and advice and ideas that you can use for yourself.

So, I write every post to answer how I can be helpful. You can pick what you want people to visit your site for, but if it’s news and repeat entertainment, I find that a harder game to be in.

Step 3: The Actual Writing

I start with a headline. Then, I realize quite often that my headline stinks, and I go back and write a new one.

I then find a picture on Flickr under their Creative Commons area, so that I can use it with the post (unless I have one of my own to use).

My first paragraph is always a personable lead-in, usually with a question, and usually setting up the post. I know that I only have about 30 words to get you into it, and I cherish those 30 words.

I write with lots of chunking on posts that I want you to bookmark and revisit. Chunking in this case means doing things like putting subheaders in there.

I then make sure that the post is brief, unless I want lots of bookmarks, and then I make the post much longer. Why? Because you bookmark things that go over 500 or so words.

I finish on whatever I want you to do: either a question, or a call to action.

Review My Last Few Weeks’ Posts

Every few days, I look at what I’ve been writing over the past few weeks to make sure I’m not doing any repeats or overkill, and/or that I’m not just writing self-serving posts all the time. This helps me figure out whether I’m giving you what you deserve.

I put some of this information into a calendar for editorial decision making. I find that helps me keep a better mix of my fresh ideas plus my planned ideas.

Repeat

If you’re not creating great stuff, then people move on. My goal is to have something of use to you (almost) every day. I bring more posts out, especially when others are on vacation.

Finally, with regards to all this, I work to keep the story fresh and give you a mix of storytelling about others and how-to for yourself. As my interests change and my focus changes, I try to make simple bridges for you to follow along. I lose a few people on the sharper turns, but I keep a lot of people, and gain new ones. It all works out.

Almost Forgot SEO

Oh, do you need to worry about your search engine optimization? I’m not especially versed in that, so I just use the Scribe SEO plugin (affiliate link). That way, if I need the post to rank better for something or other, the plugin helps me do the work. In my blog’s case, I don’t really care a lot about SEO. In client blogs, it matters a lot more.

Questions?

How else can I be helpful?

Photo credit horia varlan

ShareThis

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

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A Comprehensive Guide to Link Building via Blog Commenting | Search Engine Journal

Jun 28 2010

A Comprehensive Guide to Link Building via Blog Commenting


Though there is a lot of debate about the value of blog commenting as a form of link building, it is still a very popular linking strategy. This guide covers some basic things you will probably encounter while blog commenting, and how to make sure you get your comment approved more times than not.

Benefits of Blog Commenting Links

First off, let’s look at the benefits of blog commenting. There are five primary reasons we build links for websites. Here is what you need to look for to accomplish these goals with blog commenting.

Traffic

If you are looking to increase traffic to your website, your best bet is to comment on blogs that receive a lot of traffic that are in your niche or industry, without concern to dofollow or nofollow linking.

To find popular blogs in your niche, you can check out the variety of blog directories out there. Some of my favorite sites include:

  • Technorati – Use the search box at the top of the site – you can search for popular posts using specific keywords or change the “switch” from posts to blogs and search for a blog that covers particular topic.
  • Alltop – Alltop pulls in feeds for blogs on a variety of topics, showing the latest five posts from blogs on everything from ABC News to Zoology. You’ll be hard pressed not to find a blog on a topic you want to comment on here.
  • PostRank – Want some analytics details? Head over to PostRank Topics and search for your topic. It will bring up a list of blogs that are tagged wth that topic in order of social engagement, including comments and shares on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Delicious, Myspace, and more.

PageRank

If you are blog commenting to boost your PageRank, then you are going to want to look for blog posts that are relevant to your topic, have some PageRank themselves, and preferably allow you to have dofollow links, as that is how the magical “link juice” is passed.

To find blogs that are dofollow, you can simply do a Google search for dofollow blog directories or dofollow blog list. Some directories and lists are old though, so the PageRank information maybe out of date or the site may no longer be dofollow. It is kind of hit and miss.

To find blog posts with high PR, one method I like to use is a Google search for particular keywords in the Firefox browser using the Seoquake extension. When you install it, be sure to check to go to the Tools Menu > Seoquake > Preferences, and under SE plugins, and Enable the Google checkbox as well as change Load parameters to by request so you don’t overload Google and Yahoo with requests to the point they ban you from search.

Next, do a Google search for your keywords plus additional phrases to find blog posts such as Disqus (a popular blog commenting system), “register or login to post comments” (for Drupal blogs), site:blogspot.com for Blogger blogs, “leave a comment” (WordPress blogs), etc. You can sort the results by PageRank by clicking on the PR: ? and using the arrows to sort the results from highest to lowest PR.

SERPs

For boosting SERPs for a particular keyword phrase, you will want to find relevant blogs using dofollow (as you would for PageRank boosting), plus you will want to be able to use keyword anchor text for your link. This is a bit tricky in terms of getting passed moderation (more on that in a bit). But there are two ways to be sure you are safe with using keyword anchor text:

1. You find a blog post where others do it. If there are other people getting approved using keywords in their name field as anchor text or anchor text links in the body of the comment, then you probably can too.

2. If you search for your keywords and “Your Name@Your Keywords” you will find blogs using KeywordLuv. You will just need to enter Your Name@Your Keywords in the name field to get your website linked to your preferred keywords and anchor text.

Blog Post or Article Promotion

If you are blog commenting to boost PageRank, search rankings, or traffic to particular blog posts, you can search for blogs enabled with CommentLuv. These blogs allow you to have a link to your main website as well as a link to a post below your comment.

Typically, you can do this by simply entering your blog URL or your author page / profile URL in the website field, and CommentLuv will usually pull up your latest post. If you want the option to pull up your latest 10 posts, you can create a free account on ComLuv and then have access to your latest posts, linked to by their titles.

You can also promote articles using CommentLuv that are on particular article directories including EzineArticles, HubPages, Squidoo, or any network that allows an RSS feed for articles by a particular author.

Spam Filters

There are several roadblocks that you can run into when blog commenting, especially when you are trying to get a link added to your comment. The biggest is going to be spam filters.

Akismet

Akismet is the top spam filter protection for WordPress blogs, both self-hosted domains and on the WordPress.com site. The challenge with Akismet is that it only takes a few bloggers to mark you as spam before you end up triggering one of the many aspects that their database checks for, and once you’re in, you will have to request to be removed from their database. But of course, if you get marked as spam again, you’ll be back in it again.

How do you know you have been tagged as spam by Akismet? Typically, your comment will either be approved automatically or go into moderation. If you submit your comment, and it doesn’t show it as being in moderation, then you might want to email the blog owner to let them know you just commented and it didn’t show up on the site.

If you submit your comment on a blog post that is older than 30 days and get a white screen, then congratulations – you have found an Akismet protected blog that has turned on the option to delete any spam comments on older posts without it ever being recorded in the bloggers’ spam or moderation folder. Your comment, hence, will never be seen. Your only shot at this stage of getting a comment on that site will be to comment on a post that is less than 30 days old and email the blog owner to let them know you are in their spam filter.

Drupal

Drupal blogs (usually the ones you have to login or register for) also have a spam filtering system. Since I’m not a Drupal user, I don’t know exactly how it works, but you will know you have been caught by it because you will receive a warning when you submit your comment that it looks like spam because of the link in the body of the comment text. At this point, you’ll be prompted to enter a captcha – after that, it could go live or be sent to moderation.

Alternatively, it may simply tell you it is not going to approve your comment at all. You can try changing your keyword phrase to less keywords or something different. And if this doesn’t work, then your comment is probably not going to go through at all with any link in the comment body.

Standing Out From the Spammers

So if you do comment on a site that is heavily moderated or has a spam filter in place, how can you stand out and make yourself look like a legitimate commenter and not a spammer?

Gravatars

One of the most important ways to stand out from spammers in someone’s spam filter is by the use of a Gravatar, which puts a photo next to your comment. As a blogger who uses Akismet, I can tell you that 99% of the spam never has a Gravatar, so if your comment does end up in the spam filter it will stand out much better if you have your picture next to it.

Profiles

If a site requires you to register to submit a comment, be sure to fill out some details in the profile. It only takes about an extra minute to fill out a few fields and maybe add an image if the profile asks for one, and it will make you look less like a spammer and more like a real person.

Between a Drive By and One Hit Wonder

Spammers usually do one of two things – they do the one comment on the highest PR post they can find on a site, or they hit as many posts as they can get their hands on. Your best bet is to maybe do two comments on your first visit, on your target (most relevant or higher PR) post and on a recent post. If you want to continue to be able to comment at that blog, you will want to subscribe to comments (if that is an option) so if the blogger replies to you, you will be notified via email and can come back and answer. I have seen some bloggers that approve a comment and reply, and if the person doesn’t come back, delete it shortly thereafter (or strip the link) assuming they were a spammer.

Moderation

The other major roadblock in blog commenting is moderation. Sometimes you think you have gotten lucky because you submitted your comment and it was approved automaticaly. But don’t celebrate too soon. You might want to check back in a few days to make sure it is still there. Some sites will allow any comment to approve, but then will strip the link or delete it completely later on.

Getting Links in the Website Field of Your Comment Approved

On WordPress, Blogspot, or other websites that offer the standard name, email address, and website field, your best chance of getting your comment approved is to follow commenting policy, stated or implied. If you find a comment policy, read it and don’t break it, and your comment should get approved. If you don’t see anything that explicitly says what their commenting policy allows or doesn’t allow, take a look at previously approved comments. Is everyone using a real name or nickname? Then keywords probably aren’t allowed in the name field, and if you try it, your comment will not get approved. Just follow the trend.

Getting Links in the Body of the Comment Approved

Probably the biggest spammer red flag are comments with a link embedded in the body of the comment. If the blog allows you to add a link in a website field, I would go with that first over adding the link to the body of the comment to get it approved. But if you don’t have that as an option (as on Drupal blogs or others that you have to register for or connect with Twitter / Facebook) and you simply must have the link in the body of the comment, you have three options.

1. Include the link as your “signature” like you would in an email. Sometimes this will slip by moderation.

2. Include your link only if it answers a question from the blog post or another commenter. If the blog post says “where can I buy dog food at a good price” and your link is a discount pet food supply store, then it might be welcome.

3. Include your link only if it somehow adds value to the post. If the blog post is about website analytics (preferably a comparison of services out there and not simply an advertisement post about one service), and your link is to an analytics service, you can include it as an additional resource for people to check out when comparing analytics programs. Listing some differences and benefits of your analyics program compared to the ones listed in the post would also be a plus.

4. If none of these work for you, find blogs that have approved comments with links in their comment text. Chances are, they will be spammy, but if others have spammed it, you probably can too. Just make sure the other links aren’t really trashy and you should be in ok company.

In short, your link needs to add value to the post or discussion. Period. Or it’s not getting approved unless you luckout on a site that has laxed moderation.

The Golden Rule of Blog Commenting

Last, but most importantly, when it comes to blog commenting, there is one universal “Golden Rule” that should be followed, no matter what.

Make your comment valuable to the post and the discussion.

Great post is not going to get you far, and neither is a comment that has nothing to do with the post itself, no matter how long and intelligent it sounds. It is a time sucker, but you are going to have to read the post and make your comment a response to the post, or a response to another commenter’s comment. Be a valuable commenter, not a comment spammer.

Your Blog Commenting Strategies for Link Building

Do you incorporate blog commenting as a strategy for link building? Are you aiming for more traffic, boosting PageRank, or raising your search result positions? What kind of results have you seen, and what additional tips would you give to others who want to pursue this method of linking?

Written By:

PG

Kristi Hines | Link Building | @Kikolani

Kristi Hines is an Internet Marketing Specialist with Vertical Measures focusing in link building services, and author of Kikolani which covers blogging and social networking.

More Posts By Kristi Hines

A great explanation for link building with your blog.

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Pay Per Face: 52 Facebook Advertising Tips & Best Practices | Search Engine Journal

Co.

From the Editor

Welcome to Fast Company's Co Design, where business and design collide. Every day this website will showcase the people, products and projects that are roiling the design world. Controversies will be front and center here, alongside great designers who will speak their minds in blog posts and comments. We'll be on the ground at the big design events of the year, and major product launches too...read more »

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Saturday, June 26, 2010

YouTube Gets a Vuvuzela Button

More Stories in Web Video

The Average YouTube User Watched 100 Videos in May [STATS]

The Average YouTube User Watched 100 Videos in May [STATS] View Comments

Exclusive: Vevo’s Location-Aware iPhone App Debuts in July [PIC]

Exclusive: Vevo’s Location-Aware iPhone App Debuts in July [PIC] View Comments

Adorable P.S. 22 Kids Perform Tribute to Michael Jackson [VIDEO]

Adorable P.S. 22 Kids Perform Tribute to Michael Jackson [VIDEO] View Comments

The iPhone 4 Launch in 3 Minutes [VIDEO]

The iPhone 4 Launch in 3 Minutes [VIDEO] View Comments

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Mysterious Log Cabin of Fort Hamilton, Ohio

The city of Hamilton has some unique stories and significant historical value. I hope to have the opportunity to document many more of the local historical landmarks.

Posted via email from The Art of Jane

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Offerpop Streamlines Campaigns For Brands On Facebook And Twitter

Check out this website I found at networkedblogs.com

This is exactly what I could foresee small businesses being faced with. How do you navigate all the bells and whistles offered in the social networking arena? Large companies with a staff and budget are easily able to set aside the time for their research staff to filter through the long list of options. This will not be as easy for the small business. Those hours are necessary for them to focus on their primary goals....customers.

Posted via email from Strategic Themes

The Underground World of Cumberland Gap Cave, cave, Southern & Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association, adventure in Kentucky, Gap Cave, Cumberland Gap -- ROAD & TRAVEL Magazine

This would be amazing stuff to photograph.

Posted via email from The Art of Jane

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Connect Safely |Togetherville brings social networking to children | SafeKids News Analysis

 New site lets kids interact with other kids and trusted adults

 

by Larry Magid

 

Thanks to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are off-limits to kids under 13. That’s not to say that preteens aren’t using these sites–many are–but they have to lie about their age to sign up.

Aside from being “against the rules,” there are some real problems with younger kids using sites designed for teens and adults. For one thing, signing up requires lying, which is bad in itself. But, as many adults are finding out, knowing how to protect one’s privacy on a site like Facebook can be daunting and most young children are not developmentally ready to use these services. There are other issues as well; including how easy it is for kids to cyberbully each other on social-networking sites.

Finally, sites like Facebook just don’t have the resources for younger children, including the types of videos, games, and experiences that 6- to 10-year-olds find compelling.

Enter Togetherville.com, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that has built what founder Mandeep Singh Dhillon calls a “neighborhood” aimed at “kids and their grownups.” The site is set to come out of beta Tuesday evening.

In an interview (scroll down to listen to podcast) Dhillon called Togetherville “the first platform that really integrates young children’s ability to use the Web with their grownups close by.” Unlike some virtual words aimed at children, Togetherville uses the child’s real identity. Anonymity, said Dhillon is not allowed. The site encourages parents “to create neighborhoods of the real people in their child’s life to be around their kid as they grow up online.”

The free site, which does not display advertising to children, lets kids play games, watch videos, and create and share art. There is a “chat” function but neither kids nor adults can type in text. The only way to say something to another Togetherville participant is to select a prescreened “quip” as the site refers to text that has been approved by Togetherville staff. This greatly reduces the chances of cyberbullying and abuse and eliminates the ability for a child to reveal personal information other than what is already available on the service.

Videos, which can come from a variety of sources including YouTube, are also prescreened by staff to make sure that they are age appropriate.

Finally, sites like Facebook just don’t have the resources for younger children, including the types of videos, games, and experiences that 6- to 10-year-olds find compelling.

Enter Togetherville.com, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that has built what founder Mandeep Singh Dhillon calls a “neighborhood” aimed at “kids and their grownups.” The site is set to come out of beta Tuesday evening.

In an interview (scroll down to listen to podcast) Dhillon called Togetherville “the first platform that really integrates young children’s ability to use the Web with their grownups close by.” Unlike some virtual words aimed at children, Togetherville uses the child’s real identity. Anonymity, said Dhillon is not allowed. The site encourages parents “to create neighborhoods of the real people in their child’s life to be around their kid as they grow up online.”

The free site, which does not display advertising to children, lets kids play games, watch videos, and create and share art. There is a “chat” function but neither kids nor adults can type in text. The only way to say something to another Togetherville participant is to select a prescreened “quip” as the site refers to text that has been approved by Togetherville staff. This greatly reduces the chances of cyberbullying and abuse and eliminates the ability for a child to reveal personal information other than what is already available on the service.

Videos, which can come from a variety of sources including YouTube, are also prescreened by staff to make sure that they are age appropriate.

I guess this is an option. I can't say that my kids will use it. Most everyone is already on Facebook.

Posted via web from Homeschool Resources

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

I'm almost thinking I'd be better of in the area than mainstream.

Posted via web from The Art of Jane

If you're going to fail, you might as well fail big. - Indie Eye - Blogs

Good point.

Posted via web from The Art of Jane

Zynga’s FrontierVille Breaks 5 Million Daily Active Users

Check out this website I found at networkedblogs.com

The perfect storm. With lots of waves to ride. Any takers?

Posted via web from Simarkso's Posterous

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sponsors desert France as Sarkozy and Zidane chastise players - Dirty Tackle - World Soccer Blog - Yahoo! Sports

Slightly off topic for a marketing blog, but, not really. I totally agree with the statement that "a lot gets said in the locker room but shouldn't leave the locker room". Passionate people are often dramatic and quick to speak.

I'm curious to see how this plays out and see what lessons we can learn from it.

Posted via web from Strategic Themes

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Scientific American: World Changing Ideas Video Contest

Contest Overview


Scientific American is pleased to announce The World Changing Ideas Video contest, in partnership with SciVee. The contest is open to video entries about innovative ways to build a cleaner, healthier, safer world. The ideas represent a simple yet powerful vision of a better future. Some ideas may be in use now; others are emerging from the lab. For examples, see "World Changing Ideas," Scientific American; December 2009.

We are seeking noncommercial videos of 2 to 5 minutes in the following categories:

  • Energy
  • Transportation
  • Environment
  • Electronics or Robotics
  • Healthcare or Medicine

Scientific American will judge the entries (and ask our readers to pick their favorites in each category) and announce the winners in July, 2010. Videos will be judged on overall impact, scientific content, concept/originality, entertainment value, and production quality.

For instructions on how to upload your video and official contest rules, click on over to the complete contest overview at SciVee.


Posted via web from Strategic Themes

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Plain Jane Strategy » The Art of War

A strategy of any kind is only as good as it's execution. When we fail to plan, we plan to fail. It's something we've heard over and over, yet, still it doesn't sink in.

Posted via web from Strategic Themes

10 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Google

This makes me feel so much better! I would say normal, but, we all know that's not gonna happen ;)

Posted via web from Simarkso's Posterous

Friday, June 18, 2010

Kevin Rose's 10 Tips for Entrepreneurs - ReadWriteStart - anton's posterous

2: Iterate: Build, release and iterate. Make a list of the features you want to create over the next six months and get going! For small companies, once a week; for larger companies, maybe twice a month.

3: Hire Your Boss: Make sure you hire people that you would want to work for, who challenge you and you can learn from.

4: Demand Excellence: Ensure staff are committed to and understand your vision. Passionate, committed staff have a tendency to rub off on people. There is nothing like a new junior developer who runs circles around everyone to get people hyped up and raise the bar! Stay involved in the hiring process as long as you possibly can.

5: Raising Money: The higher your evaluation is, the more equity you have to work with. Beg, borrow and steal. Be creative about finding ways to cut costs. For example, tell the bar you are having a "birthday party" instead of a corporate event (which they would charge you $5,000 for). Rent servers, don't buy them. Don't just take the cash, make sure your investors can add value. Stick with angel investment. Venture capital mean board meetings, which is a huge sap on time and resources.

6: Hack the Press: Hit up the lower-end bloggers at your favorite tech blog. They have just as much opportunity to write about your product as any other blogger on the team. Attend the after-event parties. The same crowd that attends the events also goes to the parties, but the parties are free.

7: Invest in Advisors: Give away a small amount of stock to advisors (which they can vest after a few years) who you can call on in a pickle or for general advice as issues arise. Set the ground rules so you and the advisor know how much time you have access to.

8: Connect With the Community: Hold a live town hall where you can collect feedback and get advice from your users.

9: Leverage Your User Base to Spread the Word: Facebook notifications is a great example of how to do this.

10: Analyze Your Traffic: Pay attention to how people are using your site, and then learn and evolve. Use Google Analytics to understand and track traffic sources and entrance and exit paths.

This makes so much sense, it sounds simple, but I think that's exactly where we overthink things to a fault.

Posted via web from Simarkso's Posterous

Lijit Proves Search Company Really Means Ad Company – Takes $6 Million Series D

Colorado startup Lijit

is best known for providing websites with really good search. And it does search well – sites from Fred Wilson’s blog

to ICanHasCheezburger

use it.

But Lijit is really an advertising network. Publishers that use Lijit also get access to lots of stats about what’s going on with site searches. And they have an option to join the Lijit ad network to put display ads up on their sites – not just on search results – targeted via that data. So far, so good. Lijit doesn’t take inventory unless they can get the publisher a minimum $1 CPM, and 30% of their 700 million page views on publisher sites serve Lijit ads. They say that will grow to 1 billion page views by end of September this year.

Gross revenue, mostly from those display ads, is on target to hit $4 million – $5 million this year, CEO Todd Vernon

told me earlier today. And most of their display ad publishers have joined Lijit in the last 90 days. Last year, revenue was near $0.

Vernon says that the company is able to get premium advertising rates for publishers by combining that search intent data with demographic and content targeting, and that they work very well with mid and long tail publishers who aren’t yet big enough to hire their own sales force.

All that growth and potential means Ligit gets a new round of funding. Existing investors Foundry Group

, Boulder Ventures

and High Country Venture

have put another $6 million into the company, bringing the total to $18.3 million

to date.

If revenue trajectories continue the company will get to profitability by the time they’ve spent this round, says Vernon.

Lijit image

Website: lijit.com
Location:Boulder, Colorado, United States
Founded: June 1, 2006
Funding: $18.3M

Lijit helps publishers engage and understand their readership by providing innovative content discovery and search tools that enhance reader engagement, lengthen time on site and increase page views. By tracking reader intent, behavior, content, and… Learn More

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