June 2007
How Richard Binhammer is Changing the Face of Dell Online
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 30, 2007 | 12 comments
Getting people to try out your product is great, and when they like it and buy it, that's even better. But whether they will stay with you in the long-run, (i.e developing customer loyalty) and whether they will become repeat customers depends a lot on how you treat them once they have given you a nod. And part of how you treat them includes talking to them when they express their disappointment or an issue they're having. With the internet, and now that everyone has blogs, it has become even more important to see what people are saying about your company online, and responding to that.
Top 10 Things Digg Needs (Or Needs to Improve On)
Written by Chris Hemphill on June 29, 2007 | 88 comments
Everyone's favorite socially driven news site has a lot to offer but could also learn a lot from its users. Here are 10 things I feel the site needs to work on.
Why Use Digg Search When You Have Google Search?
Written by Chris Hemphill on June 28, 2007 | 6 comments
If you don't like Digg's site search bar you are not alone. Many Digg users recently expressed their hatred for this feature in a submission on the social news site. While many others that I have talked to say they have simply stopped using Digg's search features and instead have opted for Google Search (by using the site:digg.com [query]). Here's a little experiment.
LinkedIn Preempts Facebook with Facebook Application
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 28, 2007 | 6 comments
In an effort to preempt any perceived potential threat to the business-oriented professional social networking site in case Facebook launches similar features, LinkedIn has launched a Facebook application that lends one of the networks services to Facebook.
Beginner's Guide to Digging on the Nintendo Wii
Written by Chris Hemphill on June 27, 2007 | 6 comments
With the release of the console specific Opera browser we have been able to surf the web on the Wii. Which of course means that you can finally step away from your computer screen, get comfortable in that couch and get ready to get social through your television screen.
The Digg Widget, diggthis.js, and Useless Traffic
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 27, 2007 | 5 comments
There is no denying, by whatever measure you use, that Digg gets a lot of inbound traffic and as a result, generate a lot of outbound traffic for the site's that get showcased on its homepage. But if you look close enough, a lot of Digg's incoming traffic is absolutely useless.
Vanessa Fox Gets Screwed
Written by Neil Patel on June 26, 2007 | 12 comments
I was analyzing Vanessa Fox's blog (which I highly recommend subscribing to) today and it seems that she is being screwed by social media sites. Not in the sense that they are intentionally doing bad things to her, but her blog doesn't seem to get any social media love.
Does LinkedIn Really Need to Worry About Facebook?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 26, 2007 | 6 comments
When the news first broke that LinkedIn would be releasing a developer API, both the way they marketed this move and the way the community responded to it seems somewhat unreasonable. LinkedIn is a specialized social network and they shouldn't really be worrying about Facebook, at least not yet.
The Results Are In - How You're Getting Your Diggs
Written by Steve Searer on June 26, 2007 | 8 comments
Last week I asked you all to let me know how you get your Diggs. We received a good amount of response which included a mix of answers that covered the spectrum of possibilities. I also want to extend my gratitude to everyone that participated. I really learned a lot about the Pronet audience. Let us begin.
Spotplex, Why it Works and Why it Doesn't
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 25, 2007 | 8 comments
When Spotplex launched its beta back in February, it garnered a lot of coverage. And why shouldn't it? Everyone loves a Digg killer, and the site seemed to have a foolproof way of calculating popularity and sharing information with other users without having to worry about organized gaming and voter fraud. Let's take a look at how true these assertions are and now that the site is finally out of beta, if much has changed or not.
Pronet Advertising Star Blogger Search
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 25, 2007 | 2 comments
We at Pronet Advertising are committed to bringing you the latest and most important in social media and new media news, reviews, commentary, and marketing strategies. But we can't do it alone and that's why we're looking for more great bloggers to join our stable.
TwitterGrams - The Next Step for Twitter?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 24, 2007 | 2 comments
Dave Winer over at Scripting News today is experimenting with something that may very well become the next step for Twitter.
How Facebook Will Make Money From the Facebook Marketplace
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 24, 2007 | 8 comments
When we first covered the Facebook Marketplace, it wasn't completely clear how the social network would make money from the service. I was creating a listing on the site last night when this aspect became abundantly clear.
How The Other Side is Marketing
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 23, 2007 | 2 comments
I was watching Thank You For Smoking last night when it occurred to me that while we covered the Tobacco Industry's brilliance in marketing cigarettes, we never gave the other side a fair chance. Here's a look at how the other side is marketing the harmful side effects of smoking.
Why The Same Content Again and Again?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 22, 2007 | 23 comments
I recently came across a submission on Digg that got over 6,000 Diggs and was one of the most voted on stories of the week. And this is exactly what happened the last time the same story was submitted to Digg from the same url and by the same submitter. Is this a problem?
How Do You Get Your Diggs?
Written by Steve Searer on June 21, 2007 | 333 comments
Hi everyone, given that I am new here, I am trying to get an idea of what the Pronet audience thinks about certain topics. I have listed some common methods for gathering votes on the popular socially driven news and content site, Digg.
News Corp./Yahoo: A Potential Conservative Web?
Written by MG Siegler on June 21, 2007 | 28 comments
With the rumor confirmed that News Corp. is looking into acquiring a sizable stake in Yahoo! in exchange for MySpace, I can't help but wonder if such a deal would bring about a kind of "conservative web", in contrast to today's largely liberal variety.
Rush Hour Episode 16
Written by Neil Patel on June 20, 2007 | No comments yet
This week on Rush Hour Jane Copland, Cameron and I talked about the potential MySpace and Yahoo merger, the popularity of Facebook Apps, YouTube locals, Digg threaded comments, a women who is being harassed due to social media, white labeled social networks, and the 1.5 billion dollars being spent on digital products.
Redditing Reddit Advertisements
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 20, 2007 | 3 comments
Reddit is relatively new to the whole 'generating revenue through advertisements' business model. Until the socially driven news site was acquired by Conde Nast Publications, the site was completely ad free. Even though the site does have ads now, until recently, they came with an interesting social-minded twist.
Subvert and Profit, Still Going Strong
Written by Steve Searer on June 20, 2007 | 2 comments
When Subvert and Profit (the latest service aimed at gaming Digg) launched, there was a lot of talk about how the site would simply and quickly vanish. Well, it hasn't closed or been shut down yet, so I thought it was about time to get an update on how things are going over there. Here is the transcript of my email conversation with Ragnar at the service:
Mahalo, an SEO's Worst Enemy
Written by Steve Searer on June 19, 2007 | 16 comments
Over the past several days I have been reading about a prank people (SEO's) played on the human-powered search engine, Mahalo. Granted, the prank got a laugh from me, but it got me thinking about why SEO's would be so vocal in opposing such a new service. Here are a couple quick reasons I can think of:
A Not So Viral Campaign
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 19, 2007 | 9 comments
While Warner's viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight has been incredibly successful and we have even covered it several times, today we will look at a not so successfully executed viral marketing campaign.
Crazy Egg Launches Confetti
Written by Neil Patel on June 19, 2007 | 10 comments
I don't often blog about analytics but as some of you may know I am deeply involved in the space because I am one of the owners of Crazy Egg. In the past I blogged about it and why it is useful for website owners and today we just launched a feature called confetti that gives website owners a better understanding of how visitors interact with their website.
Ambush Marketing At Its Finest!
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 18, 2007 | 4 comments
Today I came across a great example of ambush marketing. Jet Airways, which is one of the leading Indian Airways put up an advertisement telling their customers that they have changed. Check out Kingfisher Airlines' response to this claim.
YouTube Mobile Launched - Here's The Scoop
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 17, 2007 | 6 comments
YouTube launched the mobile version of their site today. Here are all the details.
Netscape: One Year Down The Road
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 17, 2007 | 278 comments
June 15th marked the 1-year anniversary of the new Netscape, or as the 'social edition' of Netscape. Much has changed in the meantime, and here's a look at how the social news portal has evolved and adapted over the year.
RSS-Based Social Media Engagement
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 16, 2007 | 3 comments
Now that we've established that you should all be using delivering the entirety of your content in your RSS feed, here's the next step: social media engagement through your RSS feed.
Advertising on Digg: Jackpot or Fools Gold?
Written by Steve Searer on June 15, 2007 | 7 comments
The web's largest and most popular social news website, Digg, is slowly moving toward its third complete year in operation. With the site continuing to age and no apparent buyouts in the works, it has become much more important to continue to monetize the massive number of pageviews the site receives with advertising.
BBC's North American Billboards Engage Their Viewers
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 14, 2007 | 343 comments
I found a series of incredibly interesting ads from BBC World today that are not only striking on their own but are also noteworthy in the way they engage the viewers and take their voice into account by using a live opinion poll embedded into a billboard.
Have You Tried 'Free' Yet? It's Free To Try!
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 14, 2007 | 1 comment
Even though you have a good product, many customers are going to think twice before they pay the price you name. There are several reasons for that and not the least of them is that they simply don't know if they should believe your sales pitch. Sure your marketing materials say that you're the best but they don't know that. For customers like these, there's nothing better than a free trial, and now we have some statistics to show that it really helps converting triers into paying customers.
Four Web Annoyances to Avoid on Your Site
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 13, 2007 | 43 comments
One of the reasons why I tend to stick strictly to RSS feeds for some sites and have completely abandoned visiting others is that although they have interesting content, it often comes at too annoying a price. So in an effort to educated others to not make the same mistakes as some even well-established sites, I have compiled a list of what I think are the 4 most annoying things you can do on your site (in no particular order).
Whos.amung.us Expands With Some New Features
Written by MG Siegler on June 12, 2007 | 2 comments
The live visitor tracking site whos.amung.us launched a few new features yesterday ranging from cosmetic to analytical. While it provides nowhere near the data of a Google Analytics, whos.amung.us is a very useful tool for seeing how many people are on your site in real-time.
Socially Conscious Social Networking - LinkedIn For Good
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 11, 2007 | 3 comments
In last week's Socially Conscious Social Networking column we looked at Facebook Causes. This week we look at LinkedIn For Good.
Lessons I learned While I Was Away
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 11, 2007 | 10 comments
I wanted to apologize for being away for so long but as loyal readers, you no doubt remember that life often gets in the way of bloggers. And even this time, I haven't been away without good reasons.
Are Sites Preparing Content 'Exclusives' for Digg Submission Prior to Posting?
Written by MG Siegler on June 8, 2007 | 8 comments
Digg uber-user MrBabyMan (over 1,000 frontpage stories now!) had an interesting observation today - he wondered if certain websites might be preparing stories as 'Digg Exclusives' and making sure they get posted to Digg before they actually go live on their site's main page. He noticed this situation with the Mac rumor site AppleInsider today.
The Secret to Making 6 Figures a Year
Written by Neil Patel on June 7, 2007 | 8 comments
You probably have a 9 to 5 job that sucks and doesn't pay well. There is nothing wrong with doing what you love, but if you are trying to make money I recommend doing affiliate marketing through Azoogle. In the past I posted about making thousands of dollars from affiliate marketing and it seemed that many of you wanted to know the secret... so here it is
Netscape Navigator 9 Released - The Social Browser Has Landed
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 6, 2007 | 7 comments
The 1994 iteration of the Netscape Navigator browser was named as the number one technology-related product of all time by PC World. It wasn't until the browser was released by Netscape Communications that the internet revolution began. And after over a decade, with today's release of the 2007 iteration of the Netscape Navigator browser version 9.0, Netscape brings to you the social media revolution.
Are Your Beliefs Social Media Marketable?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 5, 2007 | 3 comments
I was watching Spider-Man 3 over the weekend when I saw the all too familiar Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger anti-piracy advertisement and it got me thinking about what various people believe in and how social media marketable those beliefs are.
Netflix and the Art of Crowdsourcing Innovation
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 5, 2007 |
Netflix, the online DVD rental service announced last October that they were going crowdsource their innovation for the princely sum of $1,000,000. Here's a look at the economics of the proposal and the art of crowdsourcing.
Social Poster - Maximize Your Social Media Participation and Traffic
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 4, 2007 | 6 comments
While the idea behind Social Poster is not new, this is the first time I've seen it implemented in a way that is truly useful. The service can be used both by content submitters as well as content producers and works great.
Want Another Way To Easily Get Dugg?
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 4, 2007 | 5 comments
I've written about it before and it still works like a charm. Here's one of the easiest ways to get your product or service featured on Digg and even on the Diggnation podcast.
Socially Conscious Social Networking - Facebook Causes
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 3, 2007 | 3 comments
About a week ago, Project Agape, a company founded by Sean Parker - that focuses on philanthropy - launched a special version of their services for Facebook, called Causes on Facebook. Here's how you can help.
Digg to Make Everything Diggable
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 2, 2007 | 3 comments
Mashable is reporting today on Kevin's surprise visit (via video link) to the TheNextWeb conference in Amsterdam and his plans for the future of Digg. Here are my thoughts on Kevin's plans and how I think it may not be the best decision for the Digg community.
How the Porn Industry is Utilizing Social Media
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 2, 2007 | 5 comments
We've all heard about how the pornography industry will decide which next-generation optical disc format (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) will ultimately become the industry standard. Today with the addition of StumblePorn, let's take a look at the pornography industry's foray into the social media space, which is now almost complete. Beware, this post may not be suitable for all audience and for all social settings.
3 Common Misconceptions Regarding Digg
Written by Muhammad Saleem on June 1, 2007 | 11 comments
There are several misconceptions people have when it comes to content being promoted on Digg. The three main ones, though, pertain to the lifetime of an upcoming story, the number if Diggs required for a story to be promoted, and the number of friends you should have on the site and how you can benefit from that. Here's a look at the actual situation.
