Josh Greene

YASN

Josh — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:22:00 -0500

Darian likes to refer to "Yet Another Social Network." Seeing the growth among business acquaintances reminds me of a year or two ago, when a steady stream of folks discovery LinkedIn. Now everyone's joining Facebook, which makes for some interesting collisions of worlds. What am I supposed to make of the announcement that "[former president of the company I used to work for] added the Pillow Fight application?"

3 double cheeseburgers - what does it mean?

Josh — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:07:42 -0500

Yesterday, the large fellow next to me in line at McDonalds ordered three double cheeseburgers off the dollar menu (sign of the economic times?) and a Diet Coke. I couldn't help wondering about the Diet Coke the rest of the day. Did he like the taste better? Was it a self defense mechanism - given you fill up your own drink, there's no need to call out a brand, so he was saying to himself - hey, I'm careful about what I eat?

Silver Spring post office

Josh — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:48:15 -0500

Always nice to encounter unexpectedly good service. Last week, I needed to send some tax information in. Turns out there's a small post office in Silver Spring, right across from the office here. I assumed I'd be lucky to be in and out in under an hour - it was just a couple of days before tax day. Instead, in and out in 5 minutes - including time for instruction from a cheerful counter person on how to appropriately fill out a return receipt requested form.

A tale of two conference sessions

Josh — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:47:53 -0500

I recently returned from Channel Advisor's Catalyst Conference. Two sessions stood out, one memorably bad, one memorably good.

First, the bad. Staying Ahead of the Pack – How to Evolve Your Brand in a Multi-Faceted Arena by: Chris Shimojima, Nike. Chris had been a CMO at three or four companies, so I was very curious to hear him speak. However, he may have violated one of the cardinal rules of speaking, "know your audience." From the people I talked to, most folks in attendance were merchants, at a different variety of sizes, ranging from basement operations to Internet Retailer 500. No one I talked to was doing much in the way of "brand advertising" and one of the nicest parts of the conference is the high ratio of merchants to vendors. The presentation could easily have been subtitled "We're Nike, and here are some things you should buy". It focused on their Nike Plus (running shoes + Ipod = mileage tracking) and their Nike ID product (unique, customized shoes). It tried to show how these products evolve community - but it was also clear that they had a huge budget for experimentation. And, there never was a message that tied into the audience, beyond "try, listen and learn", which was up on a slide for a minute.

Second, the good. Old School vs. New School – Defining the Life Cycle for a Successful Small Business. Scott Wingo, the CEO of Channel Advisor hosted. This was fantastic - it had different businesses talking about parts of the Internet Merchant lifecycle they'd gone through. There was a fascinating chart that Scott had, that showed the typical level of revenue at different sizes, and the different types of advertising that merchants were doing. It showed where paid search and comparison engines entered the mix. I talked to a number of people who loved the session, and felt it was very inspiring as they could see where it was possible to go.

Overall, the conference had a great mix of attendees, and useful sessions. Hopefully, next year they'll have additional sessions with merchants talking about the mechanics of their businesses.

Best Espresso in the Neighborhood

Josh — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:35:41 -0500

One area of marketing I've focused on in this blog is the idea of congruency and authenticity. You should deliver an authentic experience, congruent with the image that your company and/or product represent.

I was surprised yesterday to see on the door of the Starbucks in downtown Silver Spring, a sticker saying "Best Espresso in the Neighborhood." This immediately raised a number of questions in our group, none of them positive for Starbucks.

1) We're not really part of a neighborhood, at least, not with connotation they're searching for. Downtown Silver Spring has been gentrified. The street this particular Starbucks is on, includes Potbelly, Noodles & Company, Barnes & Noble, Cake Love, a kebab place, Ben & Jerry's, and a few more chains.
2) Everyone knows Starbucks is a huge chain. Clearly, it's not a homemade sticker, of a small, beleaguered coffee shop, trying to assert its position in a competitive marketplace. They're a big brand - "Starbucks - we're the biggest coffee buyer in the world, and we bring the best coffee to you" would at least line up with who they are at this point.
3) The sticker implies a certain type of atmosphere... Maybe a small group of devoted coffee fanatics toiling away in search of coffee nirvana. This location, on the other hand, typically has a high percentage of high school students flirting with each other, crowding the store, and ordering drinks that likely contain a higher percentage of sugar than coffee.

What's interesting about this particular store, is that the people working it, are some of the nicest you'll meet in the chains locally, who manage long lines with panache. "Starbucks - good people getting you your coffee quickly" would work better :)

SEO job in Reston

Josh — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:50:47 -0500

If you're looking for an SEO job in Reston, I have some friends who are hiring. Nice opportunity...you can ping Lisa, at Simplexity , at 703-657-4834.

Proflowers

Josh — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:56:17 -0500

Interesting online shopping observation on ProFlowers yesterday. No shopping cart. They're all about selling you that one arrangement, and getting you checked out as quickly as possible. Given that's probably 90-95% of their business, it makes sense. But, there doesn't seem to be any allowance for ordering a combo of two of their products. I know one of their marketing folks, so I'll see if I can learn more about the rationale behind it, and pass it along.

Pepperjam vs. CJ

Josh — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:17:46 -0500

Good summary of the PepperJam vs. CJ situation by Zac Johnson.

Blogger Slideshow

Josh — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:22:39 -0600

Blogger has a neat slideshow feature, showing all the pictures currently being uploaded to blogger blogs.

Checklists

Josh — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:28:29 -0600

Great article on how Checklists can transform medicine.

Where's the blogroll?

Josh — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:30:42 -0600

The rest of what was the blogroll has gone missing. I was in the process of upgrading, and much of it got cleaned out. I've recreated some of it from Yahoo Site Explorer, which does a nice job of showing top links to a site. If your site was previously listed, drop me a note, and I'll add it back in.
I am curious to see what will happen to rankings. Back in 2007, I had done about 20 link trades... There had been a bit more traffic, a better Technorati ranking, and a slight move up in what was the original goal, ranking for "Josh Greene". Currently, #3 in Google, but I've moved up to #1 in Yahoo, sometime in the last two months.

Blogger to WordPress transition

Josh — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:51:34 -0600

I'm contemplating switching from Blogger to WordPress. Anyone done it? The import feature looks pretty easy, but I'm concerned about changing the URLs of all 300 or so posts on this blog.

Dan Perry

Josh — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:16:27 -0600

Dan Perry's giving away his Google Fridge. I've actually known Dan for about five years, he was on one of the very first SES panels I ever spoke at - we knew each other through Patricia Hursh, of Smart Search Marketing. I've seen him be active in a variety of search organizations. He's giving away his Google Fridge. At one point, Google gave them away... I'm not sure what the general qualifications to get one were, mine was for driving a million leads through AdWords. Which sounds far more impressive than it was, at the time we were using the content network, with very small bids. It is a very nice fridge, and has come in handy. I don't actually need another one, but thought I'd help Dan out and link to his new blog, which I've been reading for a bit. I especially liked his post on his career in the SEO industry...and, Dan, I've got to ask...does the blogging about golf make it tax-deductible? :)

Stashcast

Josh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:23:48 -0600

Happy New Year. My friend, Mike Nash, has launched Stashcast, a platform for managing user generated content. Basically, if you're going to get thousands of submissions online, this provides a platform to manage everything... very helpful if you're looking at the prospect of reviewing thousands of submissions in a contest

Worst Corporate gift ever?

Josh — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:37:32 -0600

Anyone have a worst corporate gift story? At the moment, the leading contender is a cardboard cutout of a vendors mascot, with a front surface of dry erase material, with a non-working dry erase pen. Currently, the only one visible in our office, is sitting on a co-workers desk, with the writing bubble filled in with "worst corporate gift ever."
From the great gifts, Google had a nice one this year.
And, in the inexplicable category, a potential vendor sent a holiday card signed by two people I don't know, with a $10 gift card to Applebees. Which has no connection at all to their business...

Who is Cris Popenoe?

Josh — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:32:29 -0600

One of the downsides of having lots of connections on LinkedIn, is that every time someone joins a new social networking service, they tend to invite all their contacts. I've been invited to join "Spock" and "Blue Chip Experts" and a variety of others. The latest oddity is the mass holiday email. In general, it's a nice thought. However, I've gotten 5 holiday email cards from Cris Popenoe, who I don't really know. They're all from American Greetings, which keeps sending me reminders that I haven't opened them. And, it being holiday time, you hate to think of these forlorn ecards wasting away :(

UPDATE: I got a nice note from Cris. I had met Cris a long time ago, through Will Kreth, a Time Warner colleague. Cris had sent out one holiday greeting through American Greetings, and the rest is gremlins in the system. In a completely unrelated sign, it's clear this blog does well in natural search, since this blog is now the #3 result in "Google" searches for Cris's name

Network Magic coupon

Josh — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:29:28 -0600

If you're looking for a Network Magic coupon, try NMeasy. Saved 20%, with about 30 seconds of searching. At $720/hour, that's a pretty good rate for a quick Google search. :)

Holiday season

Josh — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:37:11 -0600

Posting's been very light, with the holiday season in full swing. In checking with Yahoo Site Explorer, perhaps you'd be interested in the most popular post in this sites history "Yours is a very bad hotel."

Starbucks - thanks, now get out

Josh — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:23:30 -0600

The Washington Post had an article about Starbucks booting some homeless people who liked to buy coffee and hang out. What's interesting is the changes they've made in the newly remodeled Starbucks near my house, clearly intended from an ergonomic standpoint to look great to people who just get their coffee and walk out, but to discourage anyone from lingering. In the picture to the left is what used to be a seating space with 4 or 5 standalone tables. Now, there's a section of high backed chairs with tabletops anchored in front. It looks nice, but it puts you at an uncomfortable angle leaning back - an awful angle, if you were going to type on a laptop. The other chairs are very uncomfortable after a few minutes... In the back, where there were originally comfy couches, they have a similar approach, with chairs that are now standalone, and lean back. I wonder if there's been a corporate directive of some sort, since the store was new enough that it didn't really need to be remodeled, to try and change the brand experience as people come through.

Southwest's new boarding policy

Josh — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:24:05 -0600

Great post on Southwest's new boarding policy.s

100,000 inlinks

Josh — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:40:45 -0600

One other interesting note; at Ad:Tech, Bruce Clay asked the audience (among other questions): How many of you have more than 100,000 inlinks to your website? Looking around, I saw only one other hand raised. Checking over the weekend, the Discovery Channel Store has about 110,000. Amusingly, this blog is over 30,000 -- however, I believe about 20k are from one blogroll that I was added to, that clearly publishes non-stop :)

My day at Ad:Tech

Josh — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:01:18 -0600

I was up at Ad:Tech yesterday to talk on a panel about affiliate marketing.
Some quick observations:

>Lines to get into panels - I'd never seen that before, I'm assuming previously that people went to the exhibit hall; but due to the high attendance people wanted to make sure they got a seat.
>Not as much actionable material as some other conferences. I heard this from other folks - the sessions ideas were great, but it would have been more helpful if the moderators had pulled a few top ideas from each of the panelists.
>A chance to meet Warren Pickett in person. He'd done a great job organizing things, so it was nice to meet him.
>According to eMarketer, online sales will grow 18.5% this year. There's more growth in spending per person, than there is in the number of people going online to shop.
>Best viral marketing - the agency for Pleo, which had set one out on a table and was chatting with people stopping by. Apparently, they've been in damage control mode, since it's now coming out 2 years later than promised. Having never seen one in person, they're very cool.

Ad:Tech

Josh — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:51:49 -0600

I'm speaking at the very last panel, at AdTech on Thursday, on Affiliate Marketing. Aside from wondering how many people will be in attendance, I'm curious about the exhibit hall schedule. It appears the exhibit hall is only open Monday and Tuesday. I know in past years, that Hilton in NYC has appeared completely overloaded, but I've never heard of a conference with an exhibit hall that shuts down with two full conference days to go.

Google Page Rank

Josh — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:30:18 -0500

Following up on last weeks discussion on Google's toolbar PageRank. This blog continues to have a Page Rank of 5. That seems consistent with what I've been hearing; the inbound links haven't changed, I don't sell links, or have a massive network of links (blogroll expansion to the left, notwithstanding).
However, I have recently purchased a number of other domains through SEODomains.org They've all seen dramatic PR drops, from PR4 to PR0, and a couple from PR3 to PR1. Now for the $9 registration, I had figured I'd just put up a basic blog page, and see if there was any traffic. I'm assuming the PR drop is more from the lack of content on the pages for a while, rather than anything else.
One other interesting thought; posts 10/2 and back have Page Rank show up in the Google Toolbar, those after that, don't.

Free Lease agreement

Josh — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:24:40 -0600

I was looking for a free lease agreement for a friend online today. I was surprised by the top rankings; the majority of the sites were either companions to a paid product, or a "free lease agreement" that had obviously been drafted some time ago. It fills like there's a void there, although I don't know that there's a business model to support it. Maybe a community for landlords?