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Yahoo’s Fourth Quarter Not Enough for Some

posted on January 29, 2008

Yahoo reported their Q4 earnings and revenue today. While their revenues are up and their net income per diluted share slightly beat expectations, as reported by Business Week their shares have fallen 10% in after hours trading.

Key points from the earnings report:

  • Revenues were $1,832 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, an 8 percent increase compared to $1,702 million for the same period of 2006.
  • Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $1,130 million, a 12 percent increase compared to $1,012 million for the same period of 2006.
  • Operating income for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $191 million, a 38 percent decrease compared to $308 million for the same period of 2006.

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Twitter in the Classroom

posted on January 29, 2008

Ever since teaching 6th graders about blogging, I’ve paid more attention to how social media sites can enhance learning. Blogging certainly can improve writing skills and at the same time introduce children to ideas that will make them more marketable when they hit the job force (assuming they do).

I haven’t heard of elementary school teachers using Twitter, but David Parry, an assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communications at the University of Texas at Dallas says Twitter really enhances learning in his classes.

He calls Twitter a “classroom-communication tool.” His class titled, “Introduction to Computer-Mediated Communication” was the trial run. Students were required to sign up for Twitter and to send a few messages with the service each week. They had to subscribe to his Twitter feed. He updated students a few times a day on useful web sites, or the rhythm of his day.

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Can We Close the Marketing Generational Gap?

posted on January 29, 2008

Recently, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to a generational gap I’ve seen become more evident over the past few years separating traditional marketers from online marketers. I’m 36, and I can tell you that with a few noted exceptions, most of the marketers I know over the age of 40 don’t really seem to understand the cutting edge of online marketing, much less the basics.

Yesterday, Mike Grehan over at Clickz wrote a great article entitled: “Search and the Changing Face of Public Relations”. In it, he addresses how public relations is changing today with the advent of technologies like social media, blogging and more. And the unfortunate reality is that MOST public relations firms are not adapting to bring these new technologies to their clients.

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Google Print to Add Bar Codes

posted on January 29, 2008

Google’s hoping to spurn more interest in their newspaper advertising service – Google Print – by adding bar codes to ads. If you have a cell phone that is compatible, you could point it at the bar code and go to a web site printed at the bottom of an ad.

As an example, I’ll take my favorite section of the newspaper – Arts and Entertainment. If you read a review about a performance of Wicked in your area, there may be an ad for the production. If it was a Google Print ad that used bar codes, you could quickly access the right page to buy a ticket at a nearby theater. The barrier at first will be just making sure you have a compatible phone, with Internet access, and the right software installed.

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Join me at the Aloha Social Media Summit this March – Just 28 Seats!

posted on January 29, 2008

How would you like to go to Hawaii?

How would you like to go to Hawaii and learn cutting-edge social media tactics?

How would you like to go to Hawaii and learn cutting-edge social media tactics, AND tell Uncle Sam that it was a necessary business expense?

You need to register for the first ever Aloha Social Media Summit, and join me, Dave Taylor, Roxanne Darling, and other experts for two days of intense hands-on training.

The workshop will take place March 18/19 on the Big Island of Hawaii and we promise there’ll be no sales-pitches, no boring PowerPoint, and no over-crowding.

The Aloha Social Media Summit will be run like a workshop–in the vein of Elite Retreat–and will be limited to just 28 attendees. That way we can guarantee that you’ll come away with valuable, personalized knowledge you can use.

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Police Officer May Lose Job Over MySpace Friend’s Sex Links

posted on January 29, 2008

I’ve written before about the dangers of not carefully monitoring who you "friend" on social networks. While it might feel like you’re in a popularity contest–and need lots of friends to win–but you should be careful who you associate yourself with.

A cop down in Florida is learning this lesson the hard way. He’s under investigation after it was discovered one of his MySpace friends linked to porn. Not normally a big deal. However, the cop works at a middle school and set up the MySpace profile in an attempt to better connect with the kids he’s protecting.

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Pilgrim’s Picks for January 29 – Hold Your Breath Edition

posted on January 29, 2008

It’s all quiet on the western front as it appears news has slowed in anticipation of Google and Yahoo’s earning announcements this week.

We’ll bring you those numbers as soon as we have them. In the meantime, I thought these were quite interesting:

  • Matt Cutts is pretty much doing for Google, what Robert Scoble did for Microsoft. If he’s not speaking at a conference, he’s providing ad hoc PR and customer service. Today, he shares 11 tips for getting the most out of Gmail.
  • Which search marketers do you want to challenge search engine execs in a game of search trivia? You can cast your vote over at SEOmoz. I’m flattered that my name is on the list–getting votes even–but if I’m going I want either Aaron Wall, Dave Naylor, Michael Gray, or Todd Friesen with me–I’ll take the useless news trivia questions, those guys can handle the hard-core technical stuff. ;-)