European Underachiever Tails

The brain at Google

2009-12-07T15:58:00.001+01:00

"The Club Med of corporations
Having two young children, I found to my horror recently that I was going to a Club Med for one of our family vacations. A day or so into the holiday I discovered something surprising. The formula at Club Med is to include pretty much everything in the price, activities, food, even drinks, giving you fewer decisions to make. Now I know the research on decision making, and how making any conscious decision uses a measurable amount of glucose, but I wasn't prepared for how relaxing it was not having to think anywhere near as much, even about simple things. It turned out to be a remarkably restful holiday."

Amazing fact, after all our brains are not really good in dealing with multiple choices, and when it does, it at the expenses of a great amount of energy !
I can see 2 lines from this fact..
One It's common said that pilots can handle 2 failures at the same time, but a third is fatal.
Is this a real upper limit?
Should we monitor our decision making to less than 2 options, and if this is the case how to lower the option count?
Second, if decision making takes a lot of brain power.. what type of food we need to food our brains for this type of work?

Facebook: From Bleeding Edge to Main Stream..

2009-03-27T11:51:00.004+01:00

Hi,
Check this information:

Facebook (and other social networks) has been skewing older for a while, but the trend has been "massive" in the past six months, according to InsideFacebook.com. In the past two months alone the number of new members over 35 has doubled. Marketers take note: the median age is now over 25, and the largest single group 35 to 44.
Facebook is Your Father's (and Mother's) Social Network | Epicenter from Wired.com

Interesting enough is not young people who are embracing the FaceBook wave, but the middle aged.
This will have a big impact on the way we connect to people from our generation.
Regards,
JP

How to Use Your GMail Account as an OpenID

2008-12-05T14:41:00.002+01:00

Have you noticed that sites like Blogger, Plaxo, and Tweetlater now support OpenID?

Some of them can also act as OpenID servers, and you can use them for identifying yourself when joining new services.
This is very handy, because it will eliminate the need to wait for the confirmation request email in your inbox.

To use your gmail account as your OpenID identifier:

Go to http://openid-provider.appspot.com/
and login using your Google login and password.
On the screen you will see your OpenID URL with this format:
http://openid-provider.appspot.com/abc@xyz.com where abc@xyz.com is your GMail address. Copy Paste this URL to a safe place.

To test it: go to www.Blogger.com and sign on using your OpenID URL.

Will Google Chrome be your next OS?

2008-09-02T09:48:00.001+02:00

A fresh take on the browser

9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM

At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.

Reading between the lines, I can only say kudos to the Google team.
They have found a way to disrupt the market again.
The browser is the next frontier, and the one who controls the browser will have a first hand control on what the customers see, watch, listen and consume.

On the technical front, they have their back covered, and then some more..
"Google Chrome" is an Operating system, coupled with a Web Based Interface.

How long will it take for the market to deliver the first Chrome computer?

Identificateurs Technorati : Chrome, Google Chrome

30DC lessons learned #1

2008-08-18T11:08:00.001+02:00

I had to go back to the basics, and review my copy of the PDF ‘s from day 2 and 3, to complete my market research.
Market Samurai is an excellent tool, and you should master it before moving further.
But as any tool, it is only as good as you are making sense of the results.

Watch out for incomplete result from Market Samurai.. And always validate your findings with Google:

1. Check the number of competing pages of your phrase in quotes, using goolge.
2. Check that you are using US results if not in America. (see http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/07/meaning-of-parameters-in-google-query.html for the hl parameter).
3. If in doubt, check if your competition is using Web2.0 marketing (is the site bookmarked in SU, using firefox SeoQuake). It’s more difficult to beat a web2.0 site

Launched: The Domain ReActivator Download Site

2008-06-28T20:37:00.004+02:00

Hi,
I'm please to announce that the updated version of the eBay-Amazon-Adsense mashup script is now ready for download. The issues with eBay have been fixed, and I have created a short installation guide that explains the registration steps in each service.

To download the script visit the Domain ReActivator site:
http://www.domainreactivator.com

Regards,
Juan Pablo

THE STORY OF A SIGN

2008-06-04T20:50:00.002+02:00

Open you heart and listen.
Enjoy :-)

Problem Fixed: Ebay Partner Network

2008-05-12T17:26:00.001+02:00

Hi,
I had some time to work on the 45in5 mashup script, and I got it working for the new affiliate program from eBay (check it out at http://www.digitalphotoartclub.com/ )

The script is still not ready for the public, but it will be soon...
Make sure that subscribe to the feed, if you don’t want to miss the release.

Regards,
JP

Mashup Script Updated

2008-02-02T07:58:00.001+01:00

Hi!,
In the best spirit of a mashup, Ran Aroussi created a new script based on 45in5 mashup script.
Then I decided to port Ran's ideas into my own version..

The new version of the script has:

PHP 4 and 5 compatible.
Caching for better performance.
Adsense ads
Fixed some problems with CSS on IE.

I'm also working a mashup with a twist... Imagine if your site could join a network of related sites, and exchange links based on the page keywords?

If you want to know more about this project, make sure you subscribe to this site.

To download the latest version: http://www.domainreactivator.com

Regards,
JP

HowTo: Build A Youtube Ebay Amazon Mashup Affiliate Site In Under Ten Minutes

2007-11-21T23:54:00.003+01:00

From 45n5 website:

A Free script to build a Youtube Ebay Amazon Mashup Affiliate Site with a video tutorial:
First check out the video:

The 45n5 site has also the pointer to a version that uses Youtube + adwords, but that is not an option for me as I do not live in the USA (required for adense/youtube).

The script works as advertised, only minor problem was getting the codes from amazon, ebay, and youtube.
With the codes at hand, selecting the keywords was the next step... you will need some testing to weed out those that do return sensible results for your site. Also keep this list to a maximum of 10 phrases.
If you want to see the first of my sites:
Digital Photo Art Club

The script requires PHP5, (little detail that I discover too late), and that I have fixed using the Domit Library..
You can download the PHP4 Version here: http://www.domainreactivator.com

Enjoy.

Identificateurs Technorati : youtube, amazon, ebay, mashup

How to demo Anything

2007-11-19T11:13:00.001+01:00

Joel is back from his tour promoting FogBugz, and has an excellent article on giving a presentation:

The only interesting way to design a demo is to make it a story.

You have a protagonist, and the protagonist has a problem, and they use the
software, and they… almost solve the problem, but not quite, and then
everybody is in suspense, while you tell them some boring stuff that doesn’t
fit anywhere else, but they’re still listening raptly because they’re waiting
to hear the resolution to the suspenseful story, and then (ah!) you solve the
protagonists last problem, and all is well.
There is a reason people
have been sitting around telling stories around campfires for the last million
years or so:
people like stories.

You can read it all at:How to demo software

Asking for Advice

2007-11-07T15:10:00.001+01:00

James Brausch has and interesting remark on the way some people will behave:

Internet Business 101

It is common to ask for directions in Costa Rica because there are no street signs and the people are very friendly. Cab drivers even ask for directions. However, everyone also knows that Costa Rican´s aren´t very confrontational. They will try to help regardless. So they will give wrong directions. The cab drivers know to only follow directions for a little ways before confirming them with someone else.

You can apply this principle to almost any situation where you ask for directions, and more specifically when looking for directions on the way that you should go on your Internet Business..

The point is not to stop asking for help, but to be sure that you frequently control your position regarding your targets.

See you Next Time..

Another Special From James Brausch, My personal saga

2007-10-16T14:18:00.001+02:00

James Brausch has another 24hs Special this time wit a long list of his products, some of them I own them, and some will complete my arsenal of tools...
As I have been more than please with James Products on the past, I had to admit that I jumped into action, without much thought..

And then my worries started...
After completing the payment with paypal, I was not directed to the download page..
Normally it should be no problem, as normally the information is also sent by email..
But this time, no email.. Strange.

Because I have bought from him in the past, I said to my self, there should be some sort of problem in his side, nothing that a good old email can't solve...I wrote a polite email with a proof of copy and fired it 4hrs ago.

After patiently waiting for someone to replay, I have decided to send a second email and wait another couple of hours.

But this lead me into a reflection ..

James is constantly teaching that you should automate as much a possible, to the point that in some cases even the refund are handled automatically by the system software.

it's neat, it works until one day loyal customers like me, are trapped into his net.

With no answer to emails..

Without a way to solve the problems...

Without no other way to deal with this issue than writing a blog post to expose the problem, expecting that their system will pick this post back link, and someone finally recognize that I deserve a reply.

Have a great day,
Juan Pablo

Latest Update....

It seems that it was my short attention span that trigered all this mess...
This is a short explanation they sent me:

Hi Juan,

It's not possible to download a piece of paper. Did you read the special?
If not, you can read it here:

http://www.JamesBrausch.com

I won't be sending it out until the special is over at noon. It will then
take a couple of days for the postal service to deliver the piece of paper
to you.

So, what I paid was not downlodeable right away.
I will have to read it more carefully next time.

Technorati Tags: 24hr Special, Jame Brausch, Internet Marketing

Open Question Time...

2007-10-08T11:47:00.001+02:00

This post is in response to J.D. Brausch "Open Question Time"
I'm currently on a low activity period..
My energy supply seems to have reach a low point..
so my question at this moment would be:

How do you create an actionable plan, specifically crafted for periods where you are low on energy?
I'm looking for a plan that can at least show some results in a short term, to pump up morale.

Regards,
JP

Getting ready for the 30DC

2007-07-31T15:00:00.000+02:00

The 30 Days Challenge is Back, and ready to Roll!
This year is WEB 2.0, and the target has been increased times 10..
But no worries, Ed is going to lead the troops into the IM battlefield.

See you on the other side..

What Is Web 2.0?

2007-03-28T14:42:00.001+02:00

With more than 163 Million references in Google, Web 2.0 is one of the most over hyped misused terms today, even by technical people like me.

If you really want to learn what web 2.0 means in terms of business models and economics, the article "

Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software" by Tim O'Reilly is the place to start. has a done great job taking the reader in a tour departing from web 1.0 and their economics to the new models and possibilities offered by then Web 2.0.

The good news is that more than before, nobody owns Web 2.0, and nobody can control it. Collaboration between platforms and user participation are the threads that build the tissue of the Web 2.0, and although new technologies likeAjax are seldom used, they are not a pre-requisite for it. Web 2.0 is not about technology, it is about the user experience.

The Web has proven that it can adapt and evolve at a very fast pace...

Can you?

Web 2.0: Yahoo Pipes

2007-02-13T10:36:00.001+01:00

Yahoo has just released a very interesting tool, Yahoo Pipes.
For those that still remember the command lines, pipes are an oldfriend, for those that where born when the GUI parading, pipe is the mechanism that allows the output of one command to be used as the input of another.

But this time Yahoo has come with a web based, user friendly tool that allows the user to combine different data sources like Google searches, Flickr and do simple processing on then results.

The result is a RSS feed that has been processed to your needs.
If you are using RSS feeds in your sites, this is a great tool.

http://pipes.yahoo.com/

Microsoft to go after eBay's PayPal?

2007-01-29T18:05:00.001+01:00

"If you want to charge somebody $0.10 or $1 a month, that will just be a click … you won’t have to manage some funny thing or pay some big credit charge, where half of it goes to the clearing,” Mr. Gates said.

Now, this is a sign that we are web ecommerce is reaching maturity. So far we have seen solutions for small amount transactions, but micro payments solutions have failed to create enough attraction to flourish.
The problemis that when margins are thin; companies try to make the business
more attractive, by cutting edges.

If you where Visa or MC, will you go into a partnership with Microsoft?

Internet Marketing, Lies, dam lies and statistics

2007-01-28T14:37:00.000+01:00

If you are like me, you probably are exposed to 20 different sales letters every day. They all claim that their product or system works for them, and that it has worked for others. But most of the time they fail to show the process used to reach their conclusions, for you to be able to:

Repeat the process and obtain the same results.
Understand the particular constraints of the solution.

These 2 points are in fact at the base of the scientific method. Apply them to create products, and they will bring much more than tools that can be used to solve specific problems, they will also instruct and teach the user on the benefits and limitations of such approach.

During the last months, I have followed 2 different roads:

A.Ranking Factors, from James Brausch.
B.The Master Plan from SEO2020

For those that are not familiar with them, The Master Plan is an excellent technique that is used to create web sites with high ranking on the search engines. They have followed the latest changes in SEO technology and come out with a site structure that takes benefit from the inner works of the SE to gain better rankings.

Ranking Factors, on the other side, uses statistical analysis to determine the in page factors that affect the raking of a page on the search engines. James has done a great job, explaining the how this analysis was conducted, and the conclusions derived from the results. He has even repeated the same analysis 2 years later, and validated and corrected the results.

These two different approaches to the same objective of high page rank in the SE contradict themselves in many areas. Both can produce proof that they work. But only one Ranking Factors has followed a method that can be repeated over and over to validate the results.

No Why this is important in Internet Marketing?

With so many offers and so many variables, we need a better set of criteria to help us to take action. By filtering out offers that only provide proof, but do not explain the methods they used to reach their conclusions, a large number of the every day noise can be avoided..

Regards,
JP

Testing : The one skill that differentiate the professionals from the rest of the herd.

2006-11-22T23:22:00.000+01:00

If there is something that we marketers know by now, is that our filed is getting more and more professionalized each year. Gone are the days that setting a simple site were all that was needed to make money on line.

Today, to really succeed on line you have to be relentless in only one thing, testing.

Testing is the ultimate way to know what makes your market to buy, to respond, to follow. Things like copywriting are still needed, but any a good copywriter will tell you the same...

Test, Test, Test…

Testing is a simple concept to understand, given 2 choices for the same variable, the one that produces the best results win. But from understanding to implementation of a successful testing strategy there is a long series of issues to consider like then number of samples needed to have a valid answer, or the possible correlation between the different variables on the same test, or even between different values of the same test. And this is only part of the story, translating them into concrete actions, will require setting multiple pages, handling versions of the same page, and controlling the results.

So is normal to think that good testing software is rare to found, and very expensive…

And it was that case, until now …

Finally you can have software that will actually take all the complexity of testing multiple variables on the same page, with a simple interface, with minimum of complexity, and no need to know any math or statistics.

Muvar is the brain child of James D. Brausch, the creator of Statistical Copywriting, and Glyphius. James has a degree in Statistics, and is a very proficient Internet Marketer. He created Muvar for his own use and after seeing the excellent results he has got from it, it has decided to release it to the public, at a price that is one third of that the other products in the market cost.

http://undiescafe.com/recommends/muvar

Just as an example the sales letter of this product, is converting at a rate that will make most of us jealous: 43% (after peaking to 50%), and it that was achieved using Muvar!. Interesting enough he shows the step by step process of what he did for the Muvar copy on the training video that comes with the product.

So, if you are serious about your business, this is the one tool that you need.

And while you are there, check also Glyphius

And see how easy it is to create killer headlines.

Regards,

AdWords: Landing page QS, Now applied to the Content Network

2006-11-06T22:28:00.000+01:00

First the good News:
They are planning to roll more changes on their landing page quality score system, and they just sent a heads up message. Thank Google for this.

The not so good News:
I'm crossing my fingers that it will only affect the content network... because I'm not using it at all. I have tested ads in the content network (CN), and for my product they do not convert at a reasonable cost, when compared to the Search Ads.
I wonder if this new change will push the cost of the CN ads to a point that only but a few businesses can profit from it. Also If the impact is nearly the same as what we had with the last Search changes, that Adsense revenue from most sites will change..

Inside AdWords: Landing page quality update: "Landing page quality update
In early July, we sat down with Andrew C., product marketing manager for Ads Quality initiatives. At that time, Andrew spoke of our continuing efforts to improve the quality of our users' experience when they visit an advertiser's landing pages. Today he returns with a heads-up regarding an upcoming development:

In the next few days, we will be making two changes to how AdWords evaluates landing page quality. First, we'll begin incorporating landing page quality into the Quality Score for your contextually-targeted ads, using the same evaluation process as we do for search. Advertisers who may be providing a poor experience on their site will notice that their traffic across the content network decreases as a result of this change. Second, we're improving our algorithm for evaluating landing page quality and incorporating landing page content retrieved by the AdWords system.
"

Google focuses on Easy-To-Read content

2006-10-30T14:46:00.000+01:00

A new search index has been made public from Google, and this time is about Accessibility.Although this is in its infancy, we can see some of the current trends on SEO being trashed out by Google. Figuring out how Accessibility will be evaluated will take the SEO community some time as Google normally leaves the details as a user exercise.There are some clues that indicate that one of the factors is the quantity of text compared to the number of links that a page has. The more links the less rank.. But I guess that this is a very simplistic view, and time will tell.
For us, it means that knowing what scores well on this indexes, is a competitive advantage.

From Google Blog:
That's why I've been passionate about a project I'm working on at Google called Google Accessible Search. Accessible Search adds a small twist to the familiar Google search: In addition to finding the most relevant results as measured by Google's search algorithms, it further sorts results based on the simplicity of their page layouts. (Simplicity, of course, is subjective in this context.) When users search from the http://labs.google.com/accessible site, they'll receive results that are prioritized based on their usability.In its current version, Google Accessible Search looks at a number of signals by examining the HTML markup found on a web page. It tends to favor pages that degrade gracefully--that is, pages with few visual distractions, and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off. Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co-op's technology, which improves search results based on specialized interests.

Technorati Tags: google, searching, seo

Google Strike Again

2006-10-25T19:12:00.000+02:00

Do you have an adwords account with Analytics?

Google has rolled yet another service, Website optimizer.
As always Google is rolling out products that can have a high impact, at the cost of putting all your eggs into the same basket.

The tutorials clearly show that this product is not a Toy, but a complex multivariable testing platform. Unfortunately, this is not as simple as A/B testing, and requires some planning, and some bits of code added to your pages.

The reporting looks good, with visual indicators of the performance of the different
elements.

Another tool to test, and this time the price is attractive.

Website Optimizer: Free multivariate testing

Use Website Optimizer to test different website content. Graphical reports show which content engages your audience and results in the highest conversions. Run that content to improve your users' experience and convert visitors to customers. Complete the steps below and sign-up to participate in our beta test. We can only invite a small number of advertisers at this time, but hope to open the tool to all Advertisers over the coming months. (Please be aware that we're only able to provide English support for the Website Optimizer tool at this time.)

The Matrix, Uncut Version

2006-09-19T10:12:00.000+02:00

Get a cup of coffee,
Close the door,
Cancel your meetings,
and leave the phone off the hook...
This is the version of the Matrix; they did not want you to see.

Put Google AdWords Editor on Your Desktop

2006-06-22T12:33:00.000+02:00

Reading Andre's Blog, I found a gold pit:

Niche Marketing Blog & Newsletter: "AdWords Editor: Manage AdWords From Your Desktop
Posted Friday, Jun 09, 2006 by Andre Chaperon
AdWords Editor is a downloadable API desktop account management tool that interfaces with your live AdWords account.
Up until very recently (like last week) AdWords Editor was only available to special 'invited' advertisers with a large'ish monthly spend."

Google is always on the edge... Do they ever sleep?

PS: Andre is a fellow underachiever, and his blog is excellent. A must for your feeds.