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Blip.TV Builds a Better Mouse Trap

posted on May 17, 2011

Blip.TV has a new mission. They’ve turned the site into a consumer-facing repository for the best original shows on the web. They did this because, according to CEO Mike Hudack, no one else had done it, but I’m sure YouTube would argue the point.

What Hudack and his team really did, was build a better mouse trap, or in this case, a better original video viewing experience. They did it by honing in on what it is that annoys people about the current experience and that’s smart thinking.

Here are some of the points they addressed and how you can use their ideas to make your site better.

The entire site is curated by humans.

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Memorial Day Emails Outperform All Other Holidays

posted on May 17, 2011

Memorial Day is one of the few holidays that encourages relaxing around the house. You don’t have to buy a gift. You don’t have to make dinner reservations. At most, you may have to throw some steaks on the grill, but no big hardship there, right?

Maybe that’s why people are in the mood to shop online come Memorial Day. According to Experian CheetahMail, Memorial Day emails have the highest transaction rates of any holiday.

The report states that Memorial Day has a higher level of pre-holiday browsing and that transactions peak one week prior and on the holiday itself.

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Facebook, Twitter & Google Oppose Law That Would Protect Your Privacy

posted on May 17, 2011

I know, I know, Facebook privacy rants are normally the stomping ground of our fearless managing editor Frank Reed, but I just have to bring to your attention that Facebook et al are trying to block a California bill that would make your social networking more private.

Despite the feigned empathy towards those that are worried about the sharing of sensitive personal information, Facebook leads a group–which includes Google, Twitter and Zynga–in opposing proposed legislation in California that would make it mandatory for social networks to shore up their privacy settings.

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New York City Aims To Be Top Digital City

posted on May 17, 2011

The city that never sleeps is looking to make sure that those folks will have something to do online while they stay awake 24/7.

Being originally from the tri-state area I am a bit surprised that the city has not made a push to claim this title sooner. But not to be outdone, New York spent 90 days to put together a very comprehensive report of where the city is digitally.

Only organizations that are actually serious about their online efforts take the time and resources to fully access where they currently stands first. It looks like NYC is determined to do it right which is refreshing in the world of “jump in and figure it out later” which we currently live in. It’s worth a look to peruse the entire 63 page document that was produced by the city for the public to see.

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Facebook Looks To Maximize Places and Checkin Deals

posted on May 17, 2011

Facebook has been like every other company trying to capitalize on the location based services and deals craze. While everyone is barking about how Google has taken a disjointed approach to all of this little has been said about Facebook’s own jumbled efforts to get a piece of this market which many feel has huge potential.

No one has really been saying much about Facebook Places and Checkin Deals because, well honestly, not many people have been doing much with them.

Inside Facebook reports

When Places launched in August, owners of physical spaces could claim their Place, and also had the option to merge claimed Places with Pages. At the time, merged Places pages used the unfamiliar left-side navigation menu layout that wouldn’t be rolled out to until February. They also lacked some functionality of Pages, there were some bugs in the merging process, and they couldn’t be unmerged, making it a somewhat difficult decision for admins.

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Cartoon Zuckerberg Says “Trust Me”!

posted on May 17, 2011

From the Joy of Tech. I think these guys don’t really trust Mark Zuckerberg. What do you think?

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SMB’s Have Their Marketing Worries Backwards

posted on May 17, 2011

You can’t walk down the block anymore without stumbling over a study that combines a version of the truth with the PR of a company. The latest target has often been the SMB market as everyone and their distant cousin is trying to get attention for their efforts to cage this elusive animal.

The latest study comes from Constant Contact which is an e-mail marketing company. So we’ll give you three guesses at which is the most effective way for SMB’s to reach their customers and prospects and the first two don’t count. Did you guess e-mail marketing? You get a gold star!