First download the google chrome browser here if you don’t have it, and then check out this experimental & interactive video (you can save your version at the end).
More on html5 here (a presentation that goes into a lot of detail on html5 inc. a few quickie demos)
Is 2012 the end of the world or just the advent of total dominance of mobile devices in our daily activities?
The revolution is underway but I’m not sure it will fully hit in 2012, maybe a bit later, but for career opportunities, the timing is now!
There is a school of thinking that we tend to overestimate short-term impacts of change, meaning 1 year, and underestimate long-term impacts meaning 10 years plus. If this is the case, after 10 years of broadband mobile at mainstream consumer pricing… your life will change big time. The Internet took 10 years from the mid-90s to shakeout weak businesses and weak business models, as broadband internet access became affordable and deliverable. It takes time, and this is a complex landscape.
According to Silicon.com While until recently the mobile apps market had been dominated by the mobile operator, now there is greater competition between handset companies, operators and application developers who are all wrestling for control of the users’ mobile experience – and their cash. As a result, there’s now fierce competition for domination of the mobile apps space.
Revealed: The apps you’ll have on your phone in 2012
1. Money transfer
2. Location-based services
3. Mobile search
4. Mobile browsing
5. Mobile health monitoring
6. Mobile payment
7. Near field communication services
8. Mobile advertising
9. Mobile instant messaging
10. Mobile music
Of particular interest to me, is the convergence of location-based technologies and solutions with all delivery channels inc. mobile. I look forward to some innovative uses of interaction that enhances consumer experiences as we are driving or moving about. Also the issues of privacy and security will continue to challenge the raw potential of location-based mass customization in marketing, content delivery, commerce and communications.
Pour yourself a hot toddy and reflect on…. “What I Can Do For You!” in this new mobile-centric world. Could this be a career path for you?
Coming out of this economic collapse, many Internet business processes and business models for small and mid-size business will take shape and REPLACE past efforts – In other words, bye-bye printed Yellow Pages AND bye-bye online Yellow Page type portals.
Proximity marketing (geo-marketing, location-based marketing) is going to be big as new applications using GPS or cellular location technologies empower mobile devices and PCs. This means that an SME operator, even with just one location, can spend her money reaching, engaging and transacting with her target market, without buying a yellow pages ad.
It’s basic stuff, and it will drive the need for more talented people who can create and execute Search Marketing campaigns.
If you are looking for a great career path this is one of the best!
I am committed to being hands-on as much as I can when it comes to technology; although I will admit WordCamp was a sobering event! To begin with, WordPress is complicated. It is not a self-contained program but a platform that absorbs external visual themes, plugins, widgets, and user tweaks. Hopefully what I learned will become apparent when the zenPeak website delivers a better experience to more and more client technology companies, and job candidates in Toronto, Ontario and throughout Canada.
Lorelle VanFossen showcased woopra which is a great real-time analytics tool for WordPress websites. While Lorelle VanFossen set me up with a beta woopra account, she told me at least 2 dozen things that needed urgent repair on the zenPeak website – ouch! First step was buying her book!
I enjoyed the talk Rob Campbell gave on Internet Marketing from SMOJOE as well as the keynote talk from Nick La on custom fields and conditional tags etc….. Not that I could absorb it all that fast!
Met some interesting people along the way too. Overall I’d give the WordCamp Toronto 2009 experience a 7.5 with marks off for the temperature = COLD, the chronic late start times, the choppy Wi-Fi connectivity, and the lack of explanation in advance of what each session was about. But its a lot of work to put on an event like this (as volunteers!), and the content was good, so it was a worthwhile weekend and appreciated!
In the meetups I host, and “host” is the word I like to use as opposed to run, or operate, there is what I would call “one minute of democracy”.
All the work and preparation to setup the meetup, invite people, pay for it, create content will fall on your shoulders. Don’t expect to share the work – the committee system doesn’t work and that’s not what meetup members want. If you are prepared to be subject-focused and not your product or company focused, the meetup will be a success!
At the end of every meetup, its time for one minute of democracy. Ask group members about how its going? And, when would they like to meet next etc. Get some feedback. That will help you run a better meetup with higher levels of satisfaction. Every member gets to rate the meetup – you let them leave with the feeling that they are getting great value but also participating in the direction of the meetup group. When they get home, an email from meetup is waiting for them in their inbox, asking them to rate the meetup – What’s the last thing they remember?
Can you use Facebook pages for target marketing?
Facebook pages have been out for a month or two. I have two fan pages; one for Frank Sinatra and another for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Both pages have music that I love. Fans can listen but can’t copy the tunes (which I paid for).
Facebook provides information on who your page fans are. For example you get stats on daily traffic; unique visitors, page views and stats on usage of FB apps in the page. You also get stats on fan sex and age.
So here is what I have learned about my two fan pages.
The Frank Sinatra page has over 500 fans and they are split 45% female 55% male, with 55% of fans between ages 18 to 24! That surprised me! and another 21% between ages 25 and 34.
Only 7% of Sinatra page fans are above age 35! If you assume that Frank Sinatra has timeless popularity, I would guess this reflects the age distribution of Facebook.
The Stevie Ray Vaughan page has been up a week and has 87 fans. This page skews heavily to male with 93% male and 7 % female fans. The age distribution is a little older with 17% above 35 years of age, and 66% between 18 and 35 (vs. 76% for the Frank Sinatra fan page)
By looking at the networks of the fans you can also get a geographic metric – for example, my Frank Sinatra page has a lot of fans from Turkey. (this you have to do on your own – not a facebook stat)
Here is the point. If you want to drive traffic to your facebook page, and from there have a "call to action" on the web etc. – you will know about your present Facebook page fan base, and you can use Facebook advertising to target your advertising.
Over 70% of web traffic is logged to countries with just 7 languages
English 35.1 %
Japanese 8.9 %
German 6.7 %
Chinese 6.1 %
French 5.3 %
Italian 3.8 %
Spanish 4.2 %
Consider the diminishing returns and poor ROI unless your company has significant operations in a local language.
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/members/res_cgi.php/0709_countries_and_languages.php
Last night, I listened to the Dell folks at the local Tuesday event, describing how they jumped into emergency blog action for damage control when the SONY battery in their notebooks blew up in summer 2006, and bloggers posted nasty on them, for that, and broad service issues.
Its a constructive social networking case study of a big company, being responsive in dealing with squeaky wheels and bad press. The Dell website traffic numbers after the Aug. 2006 event, show that the web is the critical service information channel.
IMO when someone has a bully pulpit, in any media, and is unfair and unbalanced, lets first give the consumer some credit for their intelligence and fairness, present the facts, ask for forgiveness, and get to the heart of solving problems. Thats what Dell did with bundles of transparency and quick action.
Dude… you got some good service from DELL!
Other companies should follow suit and not wait for disasters or lousy service to erode their business.
BTW…Ask me about how in my mind, Apple ripped me off in the 1990s for $13,000. in royalty profits from my CD-ROM "Search for Ancient Wisdom" that was in the Apple CD-ROM collection, by using a middleman publisher (Double Impact Multimedia) that went bankrupt just when the checks were supposed to be mailed. Apple did nothing for the designers, developers and creatives for ours and many other titles. Today, I would blog that injustice so nasty 24/7 – we would see their response and how they fix the problem.
Debbie Williamson provides thoughtful interpretation of the new features in Facebook. Excellent interview from the Jenn & John Show, Vancouver, BC
http://www.emarketer.com/docs/eMarketer_Debbie_Williamson_Nov_7_07_NPR.mp3
Reaching GEN Y on Both Sides of the Cash Register
Maybe we baby boomers did something right after all? Our kids (GEN Y born 1978 to 2000) are "polite, hopeful and have a good work ethic". And the shocker is… they are similar in many ways to our parents… the "silent generation" — but when it comes to marketing, GEN Y are unique, so careful work is needed on both sides of the cash register to keep the store traffic humming and the register ringing.
Valuable insight from the Mays School of Business’ Center for Retailing Studies. on GEN Y.
