11 Things Worth Paying for Online
Here’s something awesome…the Internet is still (mostly) free. Despite the sometimes mammoth costs of launching and maintaining a website, social media campaign, or interactive tool, the cost has remained about the same. In same cases, it’s actually become less expensive.
As the end user, just about everything is free, even though we know darn well that it’s not free to create. There are technical people, writers, designers, marketers, and everyone else…all working together to create stuff online. Some of it is supported by advertising and some of it is paid for by the target user.
So why would you pay for anything online? Well, I guess there are just some things worth paying for. Here are 11 things I’m willing to pay for (and maybe already do) on the web.
It’s worth noting that almost all of these are freemium services. That basically means that you get the core service for free. If you really like it, you can pay for an upgrade. Freemium is the ultimate in “try before you buy” solutions for brands to market themselves and their services.
Top 11 Things I’m Willing to Pay for Online Read more
SOPA Blackout Screenshots Including Google, Reddit, Wikipedia
It’s been a long time coming. The SOPA blackout is finally here and a clear message is being sent to the US government.
There are many places to learn about SOPA. I’ll provide links at the bottom.
What I find fascinating are the blackout pages, which were spread virally. I’ll provide some SOPA blackout screenshots here on the blog. Others will appear on my Flickr page.
(Oh, and before I forget…all websites are (c) their respective owners! If you are a copyright holder and want a screenshot removed, please let me know.)
Wired SOPA Blackout Page Screenshot
BoingBoing.com SOPA Blackout Page Screenshot
CraigsList SOPA Blackout Page Screenshot
See More Screenshots Read more
Why Klout and Social Influence Really Matter
Klout.com is a social influence measurement tool.
What’s your Klout score? It’s a question that you hear more often, particularly if you’re in the agency world.
So what is Klout and why is it important? That’s the more important question!
First off, if you haven’t tried it yet, go to Klout.com. If you’re signed into Twitter, it will ask you to connect your two accounts. Twitter has a pretty good application programming interface (API), so you can link two different services and share data. It’s pretty easy.
At first, Klout will probably give you a low score because it does not know how you interact with other Twitter users. But in time, it will give you some indication of your “influence.” You can read about how Klout scores influence, but suffice to say, it attempts to measure how many people repeat (or retweet!) what you say. It’s a modern, online version of how cool you are among your peers.
The mechanics of Klout aren’t as important as the concept behind social validation. So what is social validation and why should you care? Glad you asked! Read more
Mobile Video, NetFlix, and Mass Transit
Apple iPad
As I was riding the bus to work this week, I observed at least two people streaming Netflix to iPads.
The lower-end iPads include WiFi, but the upgraded models offer 3G wireless service. That makes it easy to stream Netflix wherever you are. Like, for instance, the bus.
This may seem like a minor point, but for content creators and content strategists, it is a significant development worth considering. For example, as you develop your content strategy, you’re probably thinking primarily about the website and mobile experience. This means a robust website that scales appropriately for mobile users.
If you create transmedia assets, you may also be thinking about familiar channels like YouTube and Vimeo for video. Maybe Slideshare for presentations. Perhaps an eBook on Amazon
Have you considered the bus? I mean, you know that mobile users are accessing your website on mobile device, and they may be on a bus. But when you think about long-form streaming video, you probably aren’t thinking about an iPad 2 streaming video on a bus. Read more
Use WordPress to Design a Website
WordPress logo
I’ve been developing content and building websites for a long, long time now. In the beginning, we did almost always from scratch. Occasionally, I used a template, but often it was just sitting at the keyboard grinding out a design and some code.
The past three or four sites, however, have all been developed on WordPress. Instead of worrying about HTML, CSS, Javascript, or divs, I get to focus on the content.
Initially, I only used WordPress as a blogging platform with the main body as the new content area. It was the standard blog structure where the newest post appeared on top, pushing the older posts down.
But now I’ve started to discover new ways to control WordPress to make it look like a regular website. So instead of posting a standard blog post, I am building a nice homepage with functional interior pages. In most cases, it still looks like a blog platform, which is fine by me. In most of these newer sites, I’m looking for a homegrown feel that highlights the content, not the snazzy design. Read more
Use a Facebook Fan Page for Book Marketing
Facebook Fan Page for Comic Book School
About a year or so ago, I started to experiment with a Facebook Fan Page. It was an based in a desire to “meet” the people who were buying my books.
It was a little slow getting started, since it took some time for me to really understand how Fan Pages actually worked. As an author of very niche books, I am really excited about the passion and energy that people bring to the Fan Page.
Now that I have been running this Facebook Fan Page for a while, I thought I might share a few observations: Read more
Paid Content And Your Content Strategy
A few years back, I wrote a post titled Top 5 Things I’ll Pay for on the Web. (Still brilliant, I know.)
By this point, I would have expected that the pay model for content would have changed, but for the most part, it has not. The web remains mostly free and will probably remain that way for quite some time.
There has been, however, an interesting shift in the tablet world. First the Kindle and then the iPad have nudged people along to pay for content. It’s not a mass movement, but it is a step in the direction where content creators can eventually charge something for their content. As such, content strategy will need to evolve to reflect this slow evolution back toward paid content.
Back when I got my first Kindle, there was a small, but growing library of ebooks. Many were free, some were as inexpensive as 99 cents, and others were around $9.99. It wasn’t a bad price for content, especially for those 99 cent books. Downloading and payment was easy, so the barrier to purchasing new content was low. Read more
Content Strategy Tip – Write Awful Content
Here’s a novel content strategy for you. Make some awful content. And when you’re done with that, make some more bad content.
How is that “content strategy,” you ask? Good question.
This year I published a book called “Creating Comics from Start to Finish.” It’s a book for people who aspire to create comic books. I included a section for writers where I offered the concept of the “Rule of 10.”
I won’t go into the whole thing (buy the book
eBooks Compared to Cost of Print Publishing
Nook Color ebook ereader now supports Android Apps
As the print industry continues on an inexorable path to extinction, an analysis by the Wall Street Journal reinforces what many of us already knew. Specifically, ebooks are just less expensive to publish.
First off, I’m not a book hater. Actually, quite the opposite. I’ve had a lifelong love affair with print. I spent many years in print publishing. Now that I’ve started writing books, I’m hoping that print sticks around just a bit longer.
Unfortunately, that’s just not going to happen.
The Internet has has led to fewer people buying and reading books. That much we know.
Yet it took the combined impact of the Amazon Kindle, the Nook, and the iPad to make ebooks truly viable. These are devices that offer the features ebook readers want at the right price. Read more
Why Marketers Should Drive a Badass Car
Steve McQueen movie poster from Bullitt. He drove a Mustang and he was very, very cool.
If you work in Marketing, Advertising, or some kind or related field, you are probably familiar with the concept of personal branding. Or “Brand You” as it is sometimes referred to.
Your Brand You is something you live every day. It’s the job you do and how you do it. It’s also your clothing, your blog, your online footprint. It’s a little bit of everything that supports the brand that is you. It requires care and feeding.
For example, I was talking with a colleague, who is in a new-business development job. It’s part account manger, part business development, and all relationships. Anyway, he was lamenting the vehicle he drove, which is a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.
I asked him what was wrong with his Jeep. He told me that he felt strange picking up corporate clients in a Jeep, which he keeps immaculately clean because of his training in the military. He motioned to the parking lot, which was a sea of cars from Audi, BMW, Infinity, Lexus, Acura, and Nissan. Those are the cars sales guys drive, he told me.
Yeah, I said, that’s is what they drive. And what you drive is different because you are different. Your brand is different. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Picture this: you’re a client. The sales guy has offered to take you out to lunch and for some reason, he actually has two cars with him. He says, “we can take the Audi or we can take the ’69 Corvette.” Which would you choose to go to lunch in?
My completely unscientific poll of industry colleagues and friends suggests that most people would go to lunch in the ‘Vette. Why? Because it’s a unique experience. It gives you something to talk about. The Audi is nice (which is why you buy one), but it’s not remarkable (unless it’s a performance model).
You want to be remarkable.
Read more
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