Monthly Archives: March 2009

Of Interest

Wikipedia the Death of Encarta

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (31 Mar 2009)  |  Leave a comment

While it is sad to see people lose jobs, it is very interesting to watch the open source community work its magic on slowly dissolving the Microsoft stranglehold on the PC market.

Earlier this year it was discussed that Internet Explorer might start fading into the sunset.  Then Microsoft jumped out of the Analytics market.  Now they are announcing that the online service and software encyclopedia  Encarta is about to bite the dust.  Apparently the open source Wikipedia, which Google and Yahoo! have shown great favor to, has completely eroded interest in the pay for Encarta.  While Wikipedia is not perfect, it does have an immense amount of articles on a great variety of subjects.  With millions of writers, it would be hard for Microsoft to compete.  And so they are choosing not to.

What’s next?  With IBM looking to buy Sun Microsystems the free OpenOffice suite could get some powerful backing to help push Microsoft Office out of some businesses.  While I wouldn’t expect OpenOffice to completely erode Microsoft Office sales, not having to deal with all of those nasty licence fees sure will sound good to many companies that are in a pinch financially.

If you haven’t tried OpenOffice, it might be worth a download.  I have used it for 4 years now exclusively.  While Microsoft did make life tough for a while when they introduced their new XML DocX files, OpenOffice3 has started to catch up to this…and Microsoft does offer a Word Viewer that will allow you to view and copy DocX files.  It saves me $1200 every 3 years…not too shabby.

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Of Interest

Conficker a “60 Minutes” Anti-Virus Sales Generator

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (31 Mar 2009)  |  1 Comment

Not long ago, I made a comment in a post on how TV shows like “The Biggest Loser” were using product placements and subtle sales techniques during the show to sell advertisers products.

Little did I know that the reputable news magazine “60 Minutes” would end up doing the same thing.

For years, I have felt a conflict growing between real news outlets and big business.  How could NBC cover a story about General Electric objectively, when they are owned by GE?  Or CBS with Westinghouse?  Many already feel this way about NPR and the Federal Government.

On Sunday I felt “60 Minutes” crossed the line when they went to Symantec (the maker of Norton Anti-Virus) to get the lowdown on the Conficker worm that is apparently infiltrating the Internet.

To watch the show, you would have thought the world was coming to an end.  Leslie Stahl’s reporting was surely going to scare those millions of casual and not so casual computer users who jump every time they hear of a virus threat (you know the ones, they email you every false virus threat under the sun…without checking first to see if it is a hoax). As a side note: read one of my favorite Internet hoaxes for a laugh.

Leslie spent her time getting the lowdown from the tech (or sales agent) of Symantec who predictably said that people should protect their computers with Anti-Virus tools.  Imagine that…really?  Why not just blatantly show a Norton box on the screen with a toll-free number.

Today, Symantec is backing off their statement, but the sales pitch has already been made.  Like a retraction in the newspaper, most people don’t worry about the follow-up on page 6…they remember the headline on page 1.

I really don’t think that “60 Minutes” intended to make this story into a sales generator for Symantec, but it would be interesting to see how it improved the companies sales.  Sadly though, for “60 Minutes” it is a black mark on their so-called objective reporting…and just one more reason for people to perpetuate the statement that the long time network is aptly named CBS (See BS).

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Of Interest

A New Google App Shines Light on Footer Links

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (31 Mar 2009)  |  Leave a comment

For years, I have been talking up the importance of putting links to other content at the bottom of every page of a website.  This way, you gently lead your website reader to more interesting information.  Its the “Customers Who Bought This…” theory that people love to browser, but they are more likely to be loyal to you if a link of interest is hand fed to them without any additional scrolling.

Some Google programmers recently issued a new application plugin for their search engine which plays off of this theory.  Retro Links allows you to choose other search engines to place at the bottom of your Google results.  In this way, once you get through your page 1 results, if you don’t find what you want, then you can simply choose another search engine to navigate that may have more focused results.

This plugin only works with Firefox (you should be using this browser anyway as it is the most stable, secure, and customizable) and an additional plugin called Greasemonkey, that is very easy to install.

One drawback to this feature.  Because it allows folks to leave Google after first page results, it will limit visibility for anyone on page 2 of Google results.  I’m sure there won’t be hordes of people downloading it but for the web savvy, searches may be more scattered…rather than Google focused.

Take a look at the blog post from Google’s Matt Cutts and try out the application.  Its very cool, it allows you to easily choose what search engines you want at the bottom of the page.

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Social Marketing Tips

Top 5 Reasons Your Business Should Blog

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (24 Mar 2009)  |  Leave a comment

No, blogging isn’t for every business.  If you’re selling cows, you’re probably not going to have a lot of loyal readers to your blog (I could be wrong, of course…and think of all of the fun punny names you could come up with for it…the Bovine Beat, the Milking Machine, Utterly Informative…sorry).  But for the rest of us, there are some very compelling reasons to blog.  As I am prone to do, I have compiled a list of some of the main reasons blogging is a genuinely good business practice for many:

Build Your Brand Awareness
In talking to the head of a large marketing firm, I brought up the subject of why advertisements were headed the direction of frogs and flying chairs for beer commercials.  He said, today’s generation doesn’t want to be sold any more.  They are inundated with salesmanship on all sides from media, computers, and billboards…and they are immune to it in some cases, annoyed by it in others.  Apparently no one cares to hear you tell them how wonderful your product is anymore.  So think about it, what does your website do?  It says, here is my product or service…so wonderful, buy it!  Not the message today’s generation is looking for.  A blog on the other hand says “here is what I know and here is what I’ve heard.”  It is a soft sell with potent potential.  Ever notice that TV has started slipping products into the show (Biggest Loser is the worst offender)…they do it subtly, so you don’t fast forward your DVR…and in many cases, this form of advertising is more effective because someone is putting the product into a real life situation.

Make Your Business/Brand Personal
By showing potential customers that you know your stuff, putting your product into practical use, or making them feel they are getting a few trade secrets for free, you are building interest in your product and possibly brand loyalty.  I’m not saying you should give away the secret formula to Coke, but you should be making your reader feel they are getting something special for their time and they should be getting to know you and your product…and how it relates to them.

Get Feedback
Launching a new product? Need some customer feedback?  People love to give their opinions (of course, the question is will you be happy with what they have to say?) and a blog will give them that platform to get their point across.  But better than having them post to Trip Advisor or Yelp, where you get no editorial license, a blog will allow you to post only the comments you feel are worthwhile.  Use it to your advantage.

Better Than a Newsletter
How many of you subscribe to a website newsletter and then every time a copy lands in your inbox, you push it to the “to do” pile?  You hardly ever get to the more leisurely parts of that “to do” list, do you?  With Facebook offering RSS-Connect, browsers becoming more RSS and Atom friendly by allowing newsfeed bookmarking with a click, and short attention spans ruling the day…its is better to get one story at a time out to your clients and potential clients.  Blogs are fresh…newsletters are stale (and a pain to format and put together).  If you want to continue to collect email addresses, provide password protected content on your blog…exclusively for members only.

Search Engines Like Google LOVE them
Hey, this may not last forever, but for now Google especially seems to give some priority to blogs.  My site, that only gets indexed a couple times a month (once a month is average for most people), gets indexed a many times a day on the blog pages.  Its like Google has a sniffer for new content in WordPress, etc.  You may even see your overall site presence increase in the search engines because of your activity…hosting your own blog can make all the difference in this.

Bonus: An Inexpensive Form of SEO
Search engines love juicy keywords and good blogging software will provide search engine friendly links and keyword density.  Make sure you keep your titles enticing to viewers but also add in some keywords for great Search Engine Optimization (SEO) effect.  A good templated blog can be installed and ready for your use for less than $400.  How much do you spend on one newspaper ad, billboard, or radio advertisement?  Do they allow you to express your business’ personality or help you build loyalty?

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Of Interest

Ann Arbor Sign of the Times

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (24 Mar 2009)  |  Leave a comment

When I heard that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was one

Seattle Paper Dies After 146 Years

Seattle Paper Dies After 146 Years

of the first major newspapers to stop its printing presses, I thought back to those old 50′s television shows like “Leave It To Beaver” or “Father Knows Best” and the father coming home to prop his feet up, so he could relax with the evening paper.  Remember when there used to be 2-editions a day?

Well, an old neighborhood paper of ours is announcing that it has succumbed to the economy and the pressures of online delivery.  The Ann Arbor News in Michigan is the latest newspaper to announce it is stopping their print version.  The company will lay off workers it doesn’t need and will restructure as an online outlet.

Though it has been a long time since dad’s came home from work and kicked their feet up by the fire to read a paper.  It is sad to think that those more relaxing days will be gone.  The nice thing about a newspaper (beside the fact that you don’t burn a hole in your lap with it) is that it has an end.  When you’ve run through the stories, you can then get up and eat dinner with the family and take care of some activities.  It was an escape.

Now with Internet news, you come home, sit down at the computer and get lost in news, work, social media, games and other distractions.  A computer’s power is limitless.

So, while another company laying people off in Michigan or during a bad economy is sad.  And while it is disappointing to see another industry fade to history…it is also very sad to know we are moving one step closer to absorbing into our computers and away from everything else.

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Of Interest

So Sad, You Have No Friends

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (19 Mar 2009)  |  Leave a comment

Its so nice, now that I’m older. No longer am I concerned with having to be popular.  My school days were filled with wondering how I could be with the in-crowd and be accepted.

Today’s kids seem to be under the same pressures and self-esteem seems to still be a great issue amongst the young.

So, while trolling around Facebook the other day, I started looking for people I used to know.  For those of you that have done this in the past, you’ll notice a real kick to the ego.  When you stumble upon someone who hasn’t really paid attention to their Facebook and they haven’t connected to anyone…if you try to “View Friends” you find a blank page that says…”Johnny Bud has no friends.”

In these days of rampant narcissism and Ego-Googling, this just strikes me as a public relations nightmare from Facebook.  Are they trying to guilt us into  finding friends?  Are they calling us out for being worthless slobs?  What gives?

Luckily I found a few friends for my Facebook…my ego remains in tact.  But how many unfortunate people are being slammed by Facebook inadvertently?

So, next time you go trolling around Facebook looking for old friends…if you stumble upon someone who has no friends…have some sympathy and add them as a friend.  Stop Facebook’s personal slander campaign!

(Tongue firmly planted in cheek, of course)

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Of Interest

Recession Hits Apple

Drew Hannush by Drew Hannush (17 Mar 2009)  |  1 Comment

Not a surprise that when the rubber hits the road, American consumers will choose competitively priced substance over style.  The latest sales figures show Apple losing ground to PC’s.

For years Mac’s have had an air of superiority over PC’s.  This was due to many factors, including the IBM chipset that clocked well against a PC, a more user friendly operating system, a more stable operating system, and subtle advertising (watch almost any Hollywood movie and you will see a fantasy world where everyone owns a Mac).

Today, Mac’s still lead in style, but the substance has dwindled away.  While there are some nice gadgets on new Mac’s (swapping out hardware is quite easy) and they still feature the most trendy designs, they no longer can be differentiated from a PC in terms of the chipset that they use (now Intel), the issues they have (my iMac competes with Windows ME for crashing), and the support they have (last time I took my Mac to my local service department, the salesman was telling me how overrated Macs were and I went home without getting my noisy fan problem resolved because the technicians weren’t up to getting it fixed).

PC’s have the advantage of a wider range of software, a lower cost, a wider range of designs (HP makes some really nice looking laptops), hardware that is available from multiple discount vendors…not proprietary like Apple’s, and a stable operating system (if you run your computer with Firefox instead of IE7 and enough RAM, you’ll find Vista is a very smooth running operating system).

So, if you can buy a really good PC for $800 and a comparable Mac for $1400, which way are you going to go?  I think the American people are speaking.  All the glossy false advertising in the world (some of the claims by Mac in those commercials were skirting the edge of the truth quite a bit) didn’t pump the charm up enough to convince people to overspend on a marginally superior product.

It will be interesting to see if Apple continues to advertise hot and heavy for their computers or if they will continue to focus on their iPhone and iPod products.  In the end, Apple will probably best survive this recession by continuing to innovate and lead in the early stages of products like the iPhone and iPod.  When they offer it and there aren’t many alternatives, they win.  But as they are probably finding out with the Mac and possibly the iPod…as competition comes into the market, the American consumer will go with substance and price over style.

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