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Using Google’s Android? That’ll Be $10 a Year, Thanks!

Written on July 29, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

How are you enjoying that free Android software that powers your iPhone-competing smart phone?

I hope you like it enough to reimburse Google $10 a year, because that’s what Google CEO Eric Schmidt is hoping to get out of each Android user:

“If we have a billion people using Android, you think we can’t make money from that?” Schmidt asked rhetorically. All it would take, he said, is $10 per user per year.

Did you just feel a small pain in your wallet?

OK, relax.

Google doesn’t want you to actually hand over ten bucks a year to use Android, but that’s the nominal amount it says it needs to earn from each user, in order to add a nice supplement to its search engine revenue. That could come from any kind of distribution deal or premium apps that you might pay for.

And any amount it can earn from Android would certainly help it to finally cast off that “one trick pony” tag that appears to be relentlessly applied to the search giant. And, based on the number of people that tweet to me about their love of their Android phone, I suspect that Google has a good shot at getting the income from Android it so dearly craves.

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Using Google’s Android? That’ll Be $10 a Year, Thanks!

6 Tools For Better Blogging With An iPad

Written on July 13, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing, seo

Like many others, I recently purchased an iPad out of curiosity. While my intentions were of discovery, I quickly found some productivity gains with blogging.

The upside to blogging with an iPad is that it’s portable and you can easily log your thoughts on a screen that is a lot more convenient than typing into an iPhone or other smartphone. Also, there are a number of apps to make it fairly easy.

The downside is that even though typing is easier on a much larger screen, typing on a screen vs. a tactile keyboard still takes some getting used to, even if you’re an iPhone owner. I also found some issues with copy/paste and for web based tools, anything that uses Flash is a no-go.

Here are several tips and tools that you can use to become productive more quickly when blogging using an iPad. Each icon links to the app store and this post was written entirely on an iPad.

WordPress App – The free app for WordPress is handy and is of course a very limited version of the web based version. The advantage of using the app is a simplified view and larger editing area. Basic functions like create, edit and delete of pages, comments and posts is available. If the limited nature of the app doesn’t work for you, the web based version works well too, albeit with smaller text and work area.

Bonus tip: Another handy blogging tool for iPad is BlogPress, which now supports updating Twitter & Facebook as well as upload & embedding of YouTube videos.

Dragon Dictation – One very handy workaround awkward typing on the iPad is to use speech to text. I had pretty low expectations of Dragon speech to text software but it’s pretty easy to use. You just speak into the microphone on the iPad and then copy the text from Dragon software over into WordPress or wherever it is that you’re blogging with. There might be a few small edits to make, but I found it to be pretty efficient and pretty accurate. Speech to text saves a lot of time and it’s something you can do when typing isn’t convenient. In fact, most of this post was done with Dragon.

PhotoPad & Built-In Screen Capture – With many blog posts, I capture images as screen grabs and then do some editing to customize for a particular blog post. iPhones and iPads can easily take a picture of whatever is displayed on your screen by holding down the top and bottom buttons at the same time. The image is automatically stored to your images folder.

Then I use the free PhotoPad app to open the image and do basic editing. Upload the image using WordPress and you’re all set. Editing options are very limited and I would love to get other recommendations.

Disqus Pro App – We use Disqus to manage comments on Online Marketing Blog, so moderation duties can be handled in part with this app that is made for iPhone, but usable on the iPad.

Echofon Pro – What good is writing a great blog post (or dictating one as in our case here) if no one knows you’ve published it? That’s where tools for Twitter and/or Facebook come in. I use Echofon for my Tweeting activities on my iPhone 4 and the iPad. In regards to blog promotion, it’s a quick way to share links to your best posts. There is a Tweetdeck app for iPad too, but I’ve had little luck getting it to work.

Analytics App – If you need a quick fix for top level web stats for your blog and you use Google Analytics, then this app comes in handy. Like the other apps on this list, it’s limited, but can offer you info on the go.

Will the iPad server as a replacement device for blogging over the laptop?  For now I would say no. The limited features of the iPad apps over their web counterparts means too much switching back and forth between app and browser. However, I do see the iPad providing more convenient access to blogging than a cell phone. If you’re like me and manage a large number of draft posts at any given time, being able to finish off a post in between watching streaming movies on Netflix or HuluPro can add a slice of productivity to an otherwise all-entertainment device.

There are many other apps for iPad and if you have found some that are particularly useful for blogging, please share in the comments.

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YouTube: All Your TVs & Phones Are Belong to Us

Written on July 8, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

Not content with gaining your attention during lunch–or that boring presentation your boss is making–YouTube would like to take over your TV and your mobile phone.

In a double whammy of deliciousness, YouTube has announced both a new mobile site and “Leanback.”

First, the mobile offering.

It appears that Google is tired of the hold-ups and restrictions Apple places on its iPhone apps, so it plans to do away with the need for apps altogether. Using HTML5, the new m.youtube.com site promises to offer a better video experience on your iPhone–or any smart phone for that matter.

Next, we learn that YouTube is launching Leanback. It’s like mindless TV on steroids. Tune into Leanback and YouTube will look at your settings, preferences, subscriptions, friends etc to compile a video channel personalized just for you! When you first watch Leanback, you clearly see it’s meant to be watched on your TV screen, not your desktop.

* Just in case you thought the post title was poor grammar, here’s your reference.

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YouTube: All Your TVs & Phones Are Belong to Us

YouTube: All Your TVs & Phones Are Belong to Us

Written on July 8, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

Not content with gaining your attention during lunch–or that boring presentation your boss is making–YouTube would like to take over your TV and your mobile phone.

In a double whammy of deliciousness, YouTube has announced both a new mobile site and “Leanback.”

First, the mobile offering.

It appears that Google is tired of the hold-ups and restrictions Apple places on its iPhone apps, so it plans to do away with the need for apps altogether. Using HTML5, the new m.youtube.com site promises to offer a better video experience on your iPhone–or any smart phone for that matter.

Next, we learn that YouTube is launching Leanback. It’s like mindless TV on steroids. Tune into Leanback and YouTube will look at your settings, preferences, subscriptions, friends etc to compile a video channel personalized just for you! When you first watch Leanback, you clearly see it’s meant to be watched on your TV screen, not your desktop.

* Just in case you thought the post title was poor grammar, here’s your reference.

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YouTube: All Your TVs & Phones Are Belong to Us

Why Facebook Ads Suck: It Cares About Your Privacy

Written on July 8, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Advertising, book, marketing

I’ve never run a Facebook advertising campaign.

Why?

Because, based on the crappy ads that are served to me, each time I log in, I have no faith that my ads will be served to those that are actually interested in what I have to offer. Now I know why:

We have designed Facebook to provide relevant and interesting advertising content to you in a way that protects your privacy completely. We never share your personal information with advertisers. We never sell your personal information to anyone. These protections are yours no matter what privacy settings you use; they apply equally to people who share openly with everyone and to people who share with only select friends.

So, that explains it. Facebook protects your privacy–even if you want the whole world to know who you are.

But, is that the best approach?

I’ve often suggested that I’d be willing to share more of my private information, if it would lead to better targeted ads. Not just better targeted ads, but ads that match up so perfectly with my interests, I actually look forward to see them each day. When was the last time you looked forward to seeing an ad on a web page?

I know we’re in this tricky age of trying to determine how far we should go to protect our privacy, but has Facebook gone too far? I mean, it won’t share information with advertisers “no matter what privacy settings you use.” You could tell the whole world that you’re married, have two kids and are trying decide on a family vacation to Six Flags or Disney, but an advertiser can’t deliver you a customized offer for 3 nights at DisneyWorld, no matter what. Sounds kind of crazy to me.

I guess my point is this. Yes, go ahead and protect the privacy of those that want it, but where’s the freedom? If I tell you it’s OK to share what I publicly post to Facebook with advertisers–in order to get better offers from them–what’s wrong with that?

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Why Facebook Ads Suck: It Cares About Your Privacy

Case Study: Who Has The Best Conversion Process For Buying An iPhone?

Written on July 7, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Object

Now that you can get the iPhone 4 on various networks in the UK, I decided to compare the process of buying one from the leading retailers to see which website performed best from a conversion standpoint. As you will see, the results are quite interesting!
Just to give you a bit of a [...]



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Case Study: Who Has The Best Conversion Process For Buying An iPhone?

Will New iPhone Drama Gives Apple’s Reputation A Test?

Written on June 30, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing

If you look at the history of Apple you will see a roller coaster ride of starts and stops, triumphs and tragedies and virtually everything in between. As it is in life, you are really only as good as your last at bat and in the past few years Apple has just been hitting a ton of home runs. Good products have a tendency to help people forget the troubles of the past.

The question today though is just how far has Apple entered the pantheon of companies that come off as bulletproof with regard to reputation. Everyone expects Steve Jobs to be opinionated and to toss grenades over many fences (just ask Adobe). While it can come off as a bit arrogant and aggressive it doesn’t hurt sales any. In fact, it may just add to the company’s and his own personal iconic stature as well as the bottom line. It depends on your point of view.

Now, there is the new iPhone 4 great antenna debate. So you are aware, I don’t own an iPhone. If they ever come to the Verizon network (check out the latest rumors here) I would probably scoop one up as soon as possible. At home, I use an iPod Touch to get my e-mail etc because my current phone is just lame (sorry BlackBerry … your Storm is just a drizzle at best).

I have read and been told both sides of this story. There is the “OMG! I can’t believe Apple would release something with this major flaw! Next stop, Armageddon!” to the “I haven’t had any problems.” set. All I can say is there is already a lawyer cooking up a class action suit so this must be real .

Now, there is a report that Steve Jobs’ assessment of this ‘trouble’ which is to say “There is nothing wrong just hold the phone correctly” is possibly the official stance of the company. I say possibly because of a report coming from the Boy Genius Report. He has ‘obtained’ a memo that shows how Apple CSR’s are supposed to handle these complaints and servicing the phone is not part of the equation. Please note there have been false reports in the past of memos with regard to the original iPhone so you have to ALWAYS allow for that possibility. Here is the content of that memo to Apple employees.

1. Keep all of the positioning statements in the BN handy – your tone when delivering this information is important.

a. The iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. Our testing shows that iPhone 4’s overall antenna performance is better than iPhone 3GS.

b. Gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception. This is true of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and many other phones we have tested. It is a fact of life in the wireless world.

c. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 3GS, avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand.

d. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 4, avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band.

e. The use of a case or Bumper that is made out of rubber or plastic may improve wireless performance by keeping your hand from directly covering these areas.

2. Do not perform warranty service. Use the positioning above for any customer questions or concerns.

3. Don’t forget YOU STILL NEED to probe and troubleshoot. If a customer calls about their reception while the phone is sitting on a table (not being held) it is not the metal band.

4. ONLY escalate if the issue exists when the phone is not held AND you cannot resolve it.

5. We ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON’T promise a free bumper to customers.

This is not exactly a customer friendly approach but will that even matter? It is kind of ironic that Apple is looking for antenna engineers for the iPad and iPhone but maybe that’s just a coincidence ?

Which gets back to the original question of whether Apple is doing such a great job with their products that they can play the “act as if it’s not a problem” game and come away unscathed? I don’t know. Whenever you talk about Apple products there is such intensity on both sides of the fence that it may just mean that around this issue the haters hate more and the fanboys love more. As for me and my house, I don’t really care other than watching it play out from a business perspective.

So what are your thoughts? By not offering an official statement and letting the market run riot with this concern are they creating more trouble than its worth? How should they address this situation? Is what they are doing the best way?

So many questions and so many opinions. Is your online reputation management and monitoring antenna up over this whole thing?

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Will New iPhone Drama Gives Apple’s Reputation A Test?

Facebook CEO Deletes Controversial iPhone 4 Post

Written on June 15, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: book, marketing

While I’ve followed the story about Mark Zuckerberg dissing the iPhone, it wasn’t really of much interest to me–or to you.

Until today.

For those of you unaware, the Facebook CEO posted the following to his Facebook page:

For a CEO with a high profile such as Zuckerberg, that probably wasn’t the smartest of things to do. After all, journalists didn’t just write about Mark Zuckerberg making the claim, no, they wrote about the Facebook CEO dissing Apple.

Now, what’s the Radically Transparent way to nip this in the bud? Make an apology on Facebook? Stage a coffee shop group hug with Steve Jobs? Be seen showing off your iPhone to your friends in a trendy LA nightclub? Hmm, all not bad.

Certainly the best way to nip this in the bud is not this approach:

Yep, Zuckerberg thought he could make this controversy vanish by simply deleting his post. Oh, if it were that simple. Not only is this not the equivalent of the flashing Men-In-Black pen–we won’t all simply forget it happened–but it keeps the story going. Why did he delete it? Did Apple pressure him? Blah, blah blah.

Online reputation management tip #137: Deleting a post only ever works, if you have an explanation or apology to go along with it!

So remember, just like elephants, the web never forgets.

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Facebook CEO Deletes Controversial iPhone 4 Post

Twitter Announces Location Based Tweet Tags

Written on June 15, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: marketing

Twitter is officially in the geo-location game. Yesterday it announced the roll out of its Twitter tweet tagging service which will give the location of where you are tweeting from to those interested in knowing those things about you. The Twitter blog describes it in the context of the World Cup horn blowing soccer matches.

If you’re like everyone at the Twitter office, you’re going crazy about the World Cup. When turning to Twitter to keep up with the current game, it helps to know where a Tweet is coming from—is that person watching the game on TV or is he actually in the stadium? To help answer that question, we’re excited to announce Twitter Places on twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com. Starting today, you can tag Tweets with specific places, including all World Cup stadiums in South Africa, and create new Twitter Places. You can also click a Twitter Place within a Tweet to see recent Tweets from a particular location. Try it out during the next match—you will be able to see Tweets coming from the stadium.

Here is a picture of what these location updates will look like.

Other features include Foursquare and Gowalla integration, API functionality for the service and browser capabilities that include Safari, IE, Firefox and Chrome. The service will be available in 65 countries over the next week or so and is being developed for Twitter apps for the iPhone, Android devices and the Blackberry.

If only the Twitter service could stay up long enough for this to be truly useful …….

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Twitter Announces Location Based Tweet Tags

Google Squared Answers Now On Google Mobile Results

Written on June 14, 2010 by admin

Filed Under: Object, book

The Google Mobile Blog announced that Google Squared which now helps power answers on Google.com is now powering some answers on Google Mobile Search.
You can see this yourself by visiting google.com on your iPhone, Palm WebOS or Android-powered device in English. Here is an example on [star wars release date:

When you tap on “show [...]



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Google Squared Answers Now On Google Mobile Results