Twitter is fun but there are certain things about how people use this tool that drives me nuts.  Now there is research to confirm what makes a great Tweet. Here is a summary:

Check it the full article.

Related articles

• Tweet-ups: A worthwhile way to find new followers (b2bsocialmediaguide.com)
• What Say You About Scheduled Tweets (ducttapemarketing.com)
• Here’s What Everybody Hates About Your Tweets (businessinsider.com)

A few weeks ago I attend a SEMPO AZ event where Phillip Rather from Facebook presented. Phillip is Facebooks agency partner. His presentation had some interesting nuggets from both a social engagement and media presence perspective:

The new xxx domain names for adult content become available to the general public later this year. The domain names went into operation on April 15th of this year and the sunrise phase is already under way (it ends on October 28). During the sunrise phase only those with trademarks can purchase the domain names. So if you are a brand that wants to protect your name this is the time get on board and secure your domain name. Depending on your brand name it could be difficult to obtain the domain later on.

I recommend that every business at least purchase the domain name as a General Availability domain. This means you can own the domain and have no intention of hosting a site. The last thing you want to do is expose yourself to the possibility of having your domain be the hottest place on the Internet for illicit content.

The landrush phase is between November 8 and November 25, 2011.  After this domain names will become available to the general public starting December 6, 2011.

photo credit: chacrebleu

Related articles

• .XXX Domains: Registration, Brand Protection Now Underway (news.dice.com)
• Brands stiffed by .xxx briefs’ cock-ups (go.theregister.com)
• Protecting your brand from the xxx sex domain | ZDNet UK (suttronix.wordpress.com)

Paid search (pay-per-click) advertising is big. And it’s getting bigger. Its bigger than radio advertising, outdoor advertising and cinema advertising. By 2016 paid search advertising is expected to grow 75% and become a $61.1 billion industry. Check out this infographic:

++ Click Image to Enlarge ++

Source: The Future of Paid Search Infographic

Related articles

• Pay Per Click (PPC) for SMB Part 13 – A Paid Search Back to Basic Series (community.microsoftadvertising.com)
• A Couple Of Vital PPC Management Best Practices (ronmedlin.com)
• Bring PPC Success One Click Closer With Keyword Research Tools (searchmarketingstandard.com)

I enjoy social networking. However, social networking the Facebook way is not as enjoyable as it used to be. I’m more concerned about who’s seeing my updates and as a result carefully watch what I say. As a result I post less frequently and when I do post I’m very selective about what I post. For me the megaphone broadcast method of the news feed on Facebook is a major negative.  But I’ve also made this decision to become less social because I want to be polite to those I follow and those that follow me. I don’t want to clutter my relatives news feed with boring Internet marketing related articles and I don’t want to clutter my associates news feed with pictures of my little children.

This problem bothered me from the very early days. Thinking that Facebook woudl one day take care of this I started grouping my contacts. When ever I make a connection I add them to a particular group. However, Facebook doesn’t allow me to easily leverage this work I’ve done (I know there is a very cumbersome way to accomplish this). Plus I’m one of the few doing this and I can’t expect the content I post to select groups to remain within that circle. So, even though I’ve done the work of grouping my contacts I’m frustrated that I can’t do anything with it.

It is for this exact reason that I like the circles offered by Google+. It solves the social noise problem and allows me to socialize online the way I socialize offline within distinct groups.  This is one of the reasons I like Google+ but in short order here are other benefits I see:

1. Cleans up the newsfeeds
2. Addresses privacy concerns
3. Consolidates social networking
4. Impressive ancillary features

Not all of Googles recent projects have been successful, however I do think that Google+ offers a series of improvements to social networking that will make it a strong com

Related articles

• Facebook to Google+: 10 Reasons to Make the Switch (smokesomething.wordpress.com)
• Why Google+ will succeed wildly. At first. (goodexperience.com)
• Why Google+ Will Succeed Wildly. At First. (blogs.forbes.com)
• Privacy Concerns Will Topple Facebook One Day (pcworld.com)

I know infographics are all the rage these days and everyone seems to love them. I struggle  to understand why people love them so much because quite frankly I don’t like them. They might look pretty,colorful and appealing, but in terms of conveying information they’re not very easy to use.  The only infographics I’ve liked are the animiated ones, but I’m not sure those are called infograhics.

Here are five reasons why I don’t like infograhics:

1. Hard to follow. Once you start down the image it becomes hard to follow. Most don’t have a general flow to them. I often get frustrated and overwhelmed.
2. Distracting. Will all the different fonts and colors it’s hard to know which informaiton is important and which is not. I don’t have the time to learn the color codes and visual cues.
3. Complicated. You can say the same thing in nice bullets. Much easier to read and follow.
4. Overly cute. For the most part infographics tend to be overly cute and artsy for a information sharing vehicle. The layout and presentation get in the way of conveying valuable information.
5. Efficiency. I’ve never created an infographic, but just looking at them I begin to wonder how much time and effort went into creating it. Given the snippets of information it conveys is the time/effort worth the information conveyed.

At the end of the day I feel they solve a problem that doesn’t exist. However, they look pretty and the word is in vogue, so I’ll tolerate them.

Related articles

• How To Make An Infographic (& Market It) (searchenginepeople.com)
• The manly man’s infographic: The Golden Cup [infographic] (holykaw.alltop.com)
• Visual.ly brings infographic making to the masses (holykaw.alltop.com)

I’ll admit, I was a mobile app skeptic. With HTML 5 integration and innovative web design technologies I thought mobile apps would eventually be pushed aside for more dynamic mobile websites. I thought the mobile website route was more efficient since it is less expensive and more nimble from the content creator perspective. However, the marketplace is proving otherwise. According to a new report from research firm Flurry, mobile app use is outpacing Web browsing. This includes both desktop and mobile web browsing. This is a major development.

Read more about mobile app use is outpacing Web browsing on Flurry’s website.

Related articles

• Mobile app use outpacing web browsing, says report (news.cnet.com)
• Mobile apps leaving the web behind in usage (tuaw.com)
• Consumers Now Spending More Time on Mobile Apps Than the Web [STUDY] (mashable.com)
• At 81 Minutes per Day, Mobile App Use Tops Web Browsing (readwriteweb.com)