Archive for May, 2011
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
 ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Research Institute will lead a $10 million Homeland Security project to look at open source cybersecurity options for potential use by the U.S. government – and eventually there may be money in it for open source developers.
While lead investigator at Georgia Tech, Joshua L. Davis notes that some people think open source software is more vulnerable to cyber attack because the code is public, he says it is actually more adaptable in dealing with security threats.
The five-year project will proceed in three stages. Researchers will first inventory available open source software that might meet government needs; next, it will facilitate connections between agencies and developers; finally, it will direct money to support promising open source projects.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, cybersecurity, Georgia Tech, Homeland Security cybersecurity project, Joshua L. Davis, open source software
Posted in Georgia, Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, IT, Security, University Tech | Comments Off
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
 Will the huge success of professional social network LinkedIn’s IPO bring more users to the service? With the attention it’s getting in the business press, we suspect it may see an influx of users and perhaps more active users as well.
For current or new users, Mark Hendricks over at Bnet offers 4 easy ways to improve your LinkedIn profile:
Create a custom URL
Making a custom URL improves your ranking in Google and LinkedIn search results. See Henricks post for instructions.
Strut Your Smarts
Show off what you know in Answers, under the toolbar button.
Be a joiner
Connect with people in your industry via groups. TechMedia has LinkedIn groups for its events, such as the recent Digital Summit in Atlanta, and personally, I belong to several focused on journalism, tech reporting, and online writing and editing.
Have employees create their own profiles
You can both improve your company image and reward employees by having managers post recommendations on an employee page to recognize their contributions to the firm.
See the full post.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: 4 easy ways to improve your LinkedIn profile, bnet, LinkeIn IPO, Mark Hendricks
Posted in Internet/New Media, IPOs, social media | Comments Off
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
NEW YORK – LinkedIn (NYSE:LINKD) shares took a huge pop as the business social networking firm’s IPO opened at $80 a share. By noon, the share price rocketed past $100, up 120 percent.
Shares are trading in the $100 plus range mid-day. It had a high of $122 at this writing.
The stock is showing some movement, trading between $80 and $90 a share Thursday morning.
The company now has a market value of more than $8 billion, a number which we admit astounds us.
Investors didn’t waste any time grabbing shares of LinkedIn Corp’s IPO at $45 each, the top of its projected range, even before the business social network went public Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
Money managers, mutual funds, pension funds and others were anxious to get in on the action ahead of the company’s Wall Street debut with 7.84 million shares.
The venture community, social networking firms, and investors are all excited about the LinkedIn IPO, the biggest hit for an Internet firm since Google launched its IPO seven years ago.
The craze over LinkedIn’s IPO has redoubled talk of another Internet “bubble,” since the company earned only $15.4 million in 2010. It also admits in SEC documents that the majority of its 100 million users do not visit the site regularly. Nevertheless, it does have superb demographics, since its users tend to be high end business people with substantial incomes.
On the other hand, the extraordinary pop of this offering does suggest something of the “irrational exuberance” of the last Internet bubble. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
The huge opening IPO pop is sure to encourage more “bubble” speculation.
The company is on the leading edge of the social media IPOs expected over the next year or so, which are likely to include Facebook, Twitter, and Groupon, among others.
See also: a report on SecondMarket’s Ten Hottest Companies in Tech
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: IPO, LinkedIn, social networking
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
 Social media is rapidly establishing itself as an important research and verification tool for journalists and the slump in advertising is easing, according to a new study published today by the Oriella PR Network. The fourth annual Digital Journalism Study reveals that large percentages of journalists now use digital and social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, to source and verify the stories they develop.
The study polled 478 journalists from 15 countries, including the majority of Europe; Brazil; and the US. Nearly half of respondents (47 percent) said they used Twitter to source new story angles. Over a third said they used Facebook (35 percent).
Blogs were also highlighted as a key element of this process with 30 percent saying they used blogs they were familiar with, while 42 percent also drew from blogs they had not visited before. However, the study also validated the continued importance of the PR representative with nearly two thirds (62 percent) saying this is where they source stories whilst 59 percent cited corporate spokespeople as sources.
When it comes to validating stories already in progress, a third of those polled said they used Twitter; a quarter used Facebook; and a quarter used blogs. Brands and agencies still remain the dominant first port-of-call for this process though with 61 percent using PR agencies for verification and 57 percent turning to corporate spokespeople.
The findings are in line with what we heard from Allison Fabrella at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, who spoke at TechMedia’s Digital Summit in Atlanta. (see: SEO Mistakes to Avoid)
Social Shapes Output
As well as social media’s internal influence in the newsroom, media outlets’ social media output has also hit its highest levels since the study began in 2008. More than half of journalists said their outlets now had a Twitter feed (55 percent) and journalist-authored blogs (54 percent). Video is also becoming increasingly pervasive, with 48 percent (also its highest level) now producing content in this format.
The study also assessed the number of outlets and publications who didn’t offer any kind of social media content (blogs, Twitter feeds, discussion boards, podcasts and any other interactive assets). In the inaugural Digital Journalism Study in 2008, a quarter of media outlets fell into this category. Now that figure stands at just an eighth of those polled.
Based on the study’s data, it would seem that the popularity of online media is eclipsing that of offline media. For the first time since the study began, the proportion of respondents who agreed unequivocally that their “offline” entity attracted the largest audience fell to just below 50 percent.
Has the Dust Settled?
The findings of the Digital Journalism Study also suggest that the slump in advertising revenues is now slowing. In 2010, 62 percent of those surveyed expected to see their media outlet experience a fall in revenue. Now, barely 20 percent of journalists expect this to happen in 2011.
The cautiously optimistic outlook is also reflected in the respondents’ thoughts on audience figures. In 2010, 41 percent of those surveyed expected their audiences to decline going forward. This year, this figure was reduced to just nine percent.
With the permeation of social media and the raised hopes for increased advertising revenues and audiences, the study finds evidence that many journalists are under more pressure than ever. Almost half (45 percent) admitted they have to produce more content and a third (34 percent) work longer hours. However, despite this added pressure, 44 percent of the respondents said they enjoyed their job more, compared with 34 percent in 2010 and just 27 percent in 2009.
Giles Fraser, Co-Head of the Oriella PR Network and Co-Founder of Brands2Life, said: “This year’s study demonstrates the fast-growing acceptance of social media in the newsrooms, both in the collation of stories and the telling of them. Whereas in previous years, media outlets viewed social media as an experimental platform, they now view it as a bona fide source.
The proliferation of channels makes a single, clear storyline, communicated effectively in text, video and images more important than ever. Brands must ensure that, despite the multitude of new channels available, their message does not get lost in its delivery. The requirement to manage the message across all these channels and produce the content that is relevant means that the role of the communications professional will continue to evolve rapidly in the years to come.”
The Oriella Digital Journalism study is an annual survey of journalists worldwide conducted by the Oriella PR Network, a leading, global alliance of independent technology PR agencies. This year is the fourth year the study has been carried out and it is based on responses from almost 500 journalists from broadcast, national, trade and consumer titles in 15 countries.
The full report can be downloaded from: http://www.orielladigitaljournalism.com/
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: facebook, journalists using social media, Oriella PR Network, survey, twitter
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | Comments Off
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
 By Carl Van
We all have to say no at times. Some people find it easier than others. What is interesting is that almost all of us struggle with the right way to say it.
People who hate to say no find it hard to do, and sometimes do something much worse than hurt someone’s feelings. They either don’t say anything, which passively sends an incorrect message of “yes,” or they say no in such a way that the other person doesn’t really know what is being said, sending the message of “maybe.”
People who don’t mind saying no don’t find it hard to do, but can lack the skills to do it gracefully and very often instill hard feelings, even when that is not their intent.
For those of you who have no problem saying no, but need a little guidance on how to say it more effectively, here are some tips.
Tip #1: “I’m Sorry” doesn’t have to mean you are really sorry. A little empathy can go a long way.
Tip #2: Repeat back to the other person their point of view. That will allow them to listen to yours. Once you prove to someone you understand their point of view, by repeating it back to them, they can stop explaining it over and over again.
Tip #3: You don’t have to prove to someone that the situation is their fault. Most people just want empathy, not for you to take the blame. If possible, take their side as much as you can, but return to the situation at hand.
Tip #4: Show the other person you wish it could be different. Telling someone, “I wish I could do this for you…however, I just can’t” is much more powerful than, “I won’t do this for you because I don’t have to.”
Tip #5: Help solve the problem in another way if possible. Even if alternatives aren’t the answer, the fact that you offered them shows you care. Most people, when being told “no,” can take it a little better if it is coming from someone who seems to genuinely care.
Tip #6: Avoid the word “but” when empathizing. When you say, “I understand, but…” what the other person hears is, “I don’t understand.”
Using the tips above, you can say no and avoid conflict. The following examples show how a different approach can save you from an unpleasant situation.
Carl Van is a Professional Public Speaker and business course designer. He is President & CEO of his own international training company. He trains and speaks to audiences all over the United States and Canada on soft skills such as Customer Service and Branding, Negotiations, Time Management and of course Gaining Cooperation. His new book, “Gaining Cooperation” is available on Amazon.com. Mr. Van is available for Guest Speaking and can be reached at 504-393-4570 or www.CarlVan.org or www.facebook.com/carlvanspeaker.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Business advice, Carl Van, say no the right way, Viewpoint
Posted in Business advice, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Three-quarters of more than 1,500 small businesses surveyed by Constant Contact, an online marketing services firm, say they are already actively using social media, with Facebook the top choice, followed by Twitter.
Of the 1,572 firms surveyed, 95 percent cited Facebook as the medium of choice, while 60 percent are using Twitter, 58 percent are using LinkedIN, 45 percent YouTube or other video sharing, and 23 percent working with daily/local deal services.
Facebook was rated most effective (by 82 percent), while 73 percent ranked video services highest, 55 percent for local/daily deals, and 47 percent each for LinkedIN and Twitter.
The study says most small businesses are using social media to augment their other marketing efforts, which is the best route, according to experts we hear at TechMedia events and interviews. Almost all those surveyed (95 percent) also use Web site marketing, 91 percent use email marketing, 77 percent do print ads, 69 percent use online advertising, and 53 percent do event marketing.
Free social media guide “for those born before the moon landing”
 TriMarkPublications.com is offering a free business guide to social media for those “born before the moon landing.”
The guide offers free advice on the following:
- Purpose of different social media platforms
- Usefulness of different social media platforms
- How to sign up
- How to connect
- Who to friend, follow and connect with
- Who not to friend, follow and connect with
- How to search
Download the free report
From the Not-that-we-care Department: Britney still most loved by social media
 Britney Spears Lady Gaga may have broken 10 million followers on Twitter but Britney Spears is still the Most Loved by the social media community, proving the number of followers does not equate to online approval.
Amplicate, an online opinion collating resource that accounts for more than 95 million public opinions of social media users, reports that Britney is the most loved of Twitter’s Highest Followed People, with over 27 thousand positive opinions expressed on Twitter, Facebook and Amplicate within the last 3 months.
Amplicate ranks Twitter’s Most Followed People to show how the Top 10 compare against each other in terms of public love, reach and absolute number of opinions. The service also publishes rankings and real opinions for over 200 thousand topics.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Britney Spears tops Lady Gaga in social media, Constant Contact, facebook, free social media guide for those born before the moon landing, small business social media marketing, SMBs like Facebook, survey, survey of small business social media use, three-quarters of small businesses using social media marketing, twitter
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, People, social media | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Bitdefender, a provider of Internet security solutions, says the results of a new study which has revealed some concerning statistics on the personal protection of credit card data.
The study shows that 97% of the 2,210 respondents aged 18 to 65 said they purchased goods and services online. Of these, 57% of respondents declared that they had replied with sensitive information to potentially fraudulent requests for data — leaving themselves at risk of fraud and their account being compromised.
The study also revealed that 27% of respondents were previously unaware of the use of fake sites, and the act of “phishing”. Phishing is defined as pretending to be a trustworthy organization or individual in order to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details via electronic communication.
“The pessimistic fact is that if one performs a quick and simple search on Internet, he or she can easily find credit card credentials to exploit. Moreover, there is a huge number of cybercriminals selling this kind of information for different amounts of money,” said Sabina Datcu, E-Threats Analysis and Communication Specialist, author of the survey.
More details on this survey can be found on www.malwarecity.com.
Tags: BitDefender, Internet security, many still caught in phising nets
Posted in Internet/New Media, Security | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 ATLANTA – Sionic Mobile Corp. has inched up to $1.97 million of a round now aimed at $2.5 million, down from the $5 million equity raise originally targeted, according to an amended filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company disclosed in a previous SEC filing that it had raised $1.4 million of the round in January 2010 when the round was aimed at $5 million.
Atlanta-based Sionic is a mobile marketing service that lets users download a free app to receive discounted local shopping offers. Sionic takes a fee from each transaction.
The company may be facing an uphill battle raising funds for a service in the same space as LivingSocial, Groupon, and many smaller players. The whole field is ripe for consolidation, however, and successful firms that hold significant markets may be candidates for acquisition by some of the larger players. We have heard some Atlanta investors express skepticism about funding companies in this space.
The company is led by veterans of the retail, restaurant, and travel industries, including Mark Wilbourn, owner/operator of Popeyes, Checkers and Edy’s in Atlanta, CEO Ronald Herman, previously CEO of IntelliOne Corp., William Clift, a director who was formerly CTO of Cingular Wireless, and William Lamar, also a director and formerly chief marketing officer of McDonald’s USA.
-Allan Maurer
Email TJS Editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Atlanta, financing, Groupon, LIvingSocial, local discount deals, mobile marketing, Sionic Mobile
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Money | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Elaine O'Gorman, The Receivables Exchange By Peggy Duncan
ATLANTA – Online advertising is targeted, trackable, has a low barrier to entry, produces instant leads, and offers a richer experience for the user. But with all this, there is often a gap in your satisfaction with it, Elaine O-Gorman, chief marketing officer for The Receivables Exchange told TechMedia’s Digital Summit in Atlanta.
During O’Gorman’s tenure at The Receivables Exchange, an online financial exchange, the company has grown 500% to nearly $1 billion traded, and has garnered significant press including top honors in the E-Commerce category of the 2010 Wall Street Journal Innovation Awards and Institutional Investor’s 2010 Tech Top 40. Prior to The Receivables Exchange, Elaine was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Product Strategy for Silverpop, an online software company offering a suite of on-demand tools to enterprise marketing organizations throughout the world.
O’Gorman outlined the reasons for the gap between what online advertising can achieve and why you may not be as satisfied with it as you might wish:
- Think through how the ad is being perceived by users. Relevant ads in a search are not seen as a distraction the way online display ads are. Your ad should solve the problem that the user came to that Website for.
- Have patience in measuring the detail. You can’t just look at clicks. True ROI takes longer to dissect, and it’s harder to do. You have to take time and track the conversions downstream.
- Realize that your agency is a business wanting profit. Agencies want a commission, and it’s easier and more profitable for them to buy media in volume from one or two places. Don’t let them take the easy way out. Have them research several smaller venues such as blogs, specialty trade sites, or email newsletters.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, busienss advice, Digital Summit, Elaine O'Gorman, Events, reasons you're not satisfied with online ad campaigns, The Receivables Exchange
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Bryan Brown, RMM Online Advertising ATLANTA – Ecommerce continues to expand this year following a huge online holiday shopping season in 2010. Bryan Brown, vice president of business development and creative director at RMM outlined five trends and five tactics at TechMedia’s Digital Summit in Atlanta this week.
Five Trends in ecommerce:
- eCommerce platforms. Technology is making it cheaper to get started, everything from a few lines of codes to systems such as Magento(sp) that offers a total solution that offers free setup and a free month to try.
- Analytics. Instead of paying someone to track the data, it’s more important to have someone analyzing it. You have to analyze user behavior while they’re on your site. How many clicks and how long did it take to conversion.
- Customer service. You need to engage with customers away from your Website using social media such as Twitter, FaceBook, etc.
- User incentive. Offer incentives such as hassle-free, free shipping, one-page checkout, and make it obvious.
- Product focus. Dig deeper into the search funnel to get a better handle on exactly what the customer wants. For example, instead of presenting a landing page for running shoes, you might find you need to have pages for a not only a particular brand but also a certain size shoe.
Tactics to Do It Better
- Focus on usability. Is all the information there to help the customer make a decision? How can the product be used, how does it fit if you wear it a certain way? What are your customers saying they like or don’t like about a product?
- Analyze. Examine what’s happening when the customer is on your site.
- Engage users away from your site. Use social tools to learn more about the customer and their needs. A Facebook Like Page is a great way to do this.
- Modify policies. Your policies should be user-centric by doing things such as offering free shipping and not requiring passwords.
- Pay attention to products. Landing page optimization is key and works better when you pay more attention to precisely what people are looking for. What size and brand do they search for and can they find yours over the competition?
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: analyze tracked data, Atlanta, Bryan Brown, Digital Summit, e-commerce platforms, Five trends and tactics in ecommerce, landing page optimization, RMM, web site useability
Posted in Events, Internet/New Media, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Gary Vaynerchuk ATLANTA – The way we use social media is broken, Gary Vaynerchuk told the Digital Summit in his keynote address in Atlanta. It’s not about how many followers you have. It’s about engaging with them and getting them to take action, he said.
New York Times bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk is the star of WineLibraryTV.com, a video blog launched from his platform as Director of Operations of national industry retail giant Wine Library. Known as the “King of Social Media,” he is one of the first-and one of a few-Facebook users who has maxed-out his friend limit, with over 17,000 pending friend requests. He is in the top 100 people followed on Twitter and has been headline keynote at South by Southwest Interactive conference and the New Media and Web 2.0 expos.
Vaynerchuk told the crowd at Atlanta’s Cobb Gallkeria, “Since the beginning of time, marketers have pushed their products out and still do. The problem: social marketing is relationship-based and most companies are looking for a one-night stand.”
His advice: Don’t follow people just so you can push your ads. You have to build a community and engage with them. You’ll have to show you care about the customer by delivering what they need to solve their problems. Context is what you’re fighting for: you’ll have to shut your mouth and open your eyes and learn about the end users.
Word of mouth is the currency.
Technology has brought us back together and is making it easier to share opinions of products instead of having to rely on TV ads and other traditional media. Vaynerchuk told the story of a “135 year-old” man who opened TweetDeck on his smartphone to decide which movie he and his wife should see. He was relying on the opinion of his network.
In building relationships with the customer, you have to show that you care about them by thanking them with something they can use and appreciate. Marketers are still spending money on dumb trinkets with their names on them. What good does it do?
Vaynerchuk, for instance, said a customer who placed a $15,000 wine order and how they engaged with that customer. Vaynerchuck has a staff person responsible for thanking the customer, and they found him on Twitter. They followed him for a month or so. The customer’s tweets were about a particular sports team and player. Gary’s staff shopped for a signed shirt by this player and sent it to the customer to thank him for his business.
Social marketing still is not used as much as it should be because big companies can’t scale it and small companies don’t have time.
“This stuff is helping to work to bring down governments, so don’t think for a minute that it’s not powerful or going away. Make time, whether you can scale it now or not,” he said.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, Digital Summit 2011, engage with customers on social media, Gary Vaynerchuk, marketers using social media wrong, the Daily Grape.com, word of mouth is the currency
Posted in Business advice, Events, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Twitter, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
 Tom Lowry, Google Inc. By Peggy Duncan
ATLANTA – Research shows that businesses could increase consumer engagement by 85% with a mobile-specific site. To develop a site the right way, you’ll need to change the creative, the landing page, and the call to action.
Specifically, here are five things you can do right now from Google’s Tom Lowry, head of Industry for the search giant’s Media Sales Team, who spoke at TechMedia’s Digital Summit in Atlanta Tuesday.
Five things you can do now:
- Keep the site simple. Don’t try to incorporate everything in the mobile site that’s on your Website. Users want the site to load quickly and have been known to throw their phones when they don’t.
- Design for thumbs. You should design to avoid accidental clicks and so that scrolling will be in one direction.
- Prioritize the content. You’ll have to decide what content will work best for the results you want. Add the information that’s most valuable for users who are on the go.
- Use uniquely mobile features. Display content based on a user’s location, help them get from mobile to your location, and leverage other phone functions such as GPS.
- Make it easy to convert. Reduce the number of fields to the finish.
Trends he noted include: two hundred million online videos show every day, and by 2017, there will be more people connecting via a mobile device than a desktop. And one in three searches are local with 61% of users actually calling the business, and 59% visiting.
You can start small, he said, but you should make a plan to develop a mobile strategy within the next ninety days.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: develop a mobile strategy in 90 days, Digital Summit, Five things you can do now to go mobile, Google, how to go mobile, Tom Lowry
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 Lindsay Wassell, KeyphraSEOlogy By Peggy Duncan
ATLANTA – More from the ongoing Atlanta Digital Summit 2011, this from Lindsay Wassell, Partner & Consultant, KeyphraSEOlogy on embracing digital search:
In the search arena, other media types are entering into organic results. Instead of only focusing on optimizing your Website for search results, you’ll also have to factor in news results, video, images, local, and real-time Twitter feeds. If you’re not focused on optimization for these various mediums, you’ll be pushed down in the search.
- News. Boost your search engine rankings by optimizing for news feeds. Examples include sharing your opinion, writing blog posts, and sending online news releases.
- Video. It’s easier to rank video than traditional Webpages. Whatever you’re an expert on, create a solution to a problem and record and post videos. Search engines can’t index what’s on your video, but you could transcribe it and add that text in a blog post with appropriate keywords.
- Images. Images make the search result richer and more clickable and should be added everywhere. Post them online on your site and photo sites using good keywords in the filename and description.
- Local. You can establish some control over what people see when they search for your business locally by completing a full Google local profile.
- Twitter. Tweets are also showing up in search results. Be more careful about what you tweet and use it to continue to solve people’s problems.
You’ll have to engage in as many mediums as possible to maintain your organic search rankings and bypass your competition.
Also see our interview with Wassell prior to her appearance: Five SEO Tactics to Avoid
You can also follow the Digital Summit Twitter stream at: #Dsum11
Tags: Atlanta, Digital Summit 2011, embracing search, KeyphrasEOlogy, Lindsay Wassell, Peggy Duncan
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 SafetyWeb.com has identified the major threats to security and privacy for businesses. They are:
1. Data Breach Resulting From Poor Networking Choices
Cisco. Sun. These are enterprise-level networking choices that are found in large IT departments around the world. The price tags, however, price small or medium business out of the market. If these businesses have networks at all, they may use networking devices targeted at home users. Some may forgo the use of routers at all, plugging directly into the Internet. Business owners can block most threats by using a quality router, like a NETGEAR or Buffalo brand router and making sure to change the router password from the default.
2. Data Breach Resulting From Improper Shredding Practices
Dumpster diving identity thieves target businesses that throw out paperwork without shredding it. Most home shredders will suffice for small businesses in a pinch, but a commercial shredder is a wise investment if private information is printed and shredded daily.
3. Identity Theft Resulting From Public Databases
Individuals, especially business owners, often publish lots of information about themselves in public databases. Businesses are registered with the county clerk, telephone numbers are in the phone book, many individuals have Facebook profiles with their address and date of birth. Many identity thieves can use information searchable publicly to construct a complete identity.
4. Identity Theft Resulting from Using a Personal Name Instead of Filing a DBA
Sole-proprietors that do not take the time to file a Doing Business As application are at a far higher risk of identity theft due to their personal name, rather than their business names, being published publicly.
5. Tax Records Theft Around Tax Time
Businesses must ensure that tax returns are dropped off at the post office and refunds are collected promptly from the mailbox. Identity thieves often steal tax returns from an outbox or mailbox.
6. Bank Fraud Due To Gap in Protection or Monitoring
Business owners know that it is vital to balance their accounts every month to ensure that checks are not being written out of business funds by embezzlers, but many businesses rarely, if ever, check what kind of credit accounts have been opened under the business name. Monitoring services like myID.com can alert business owners when new credit accounts are opened fraudulently.
7. Poor E-mailing Standards
Many businesses treat e-mails as confidential communications, but this is far from the case. They are available to a number of people other than the recipient. It’s more appropriate to treat e-mails as postcards, rather than sealed letters.
8. Failing to Choose a Secure Password
In fact, many security experts are recommending the use of a pass phrase, rather than a pass word. Pass phrases are several words long, at least three, and are far more secure than passwords. A pass phrase like “friday blue jeans” can be typed far quicker than a complicated password, and it doesn’t need to be written down on a post-it.
9. Not Securing New Computers or Hard Drives
Businesses that had their IT system professionally installed may opt to upgrade a computer or two by themselves. This is strongly discouraged on a business network, as new computers must be professionally secured or else they pose a serious threat and an entry point for hackers.
10. Social Engineering
Social engineers are individuals that call and claim they are from another organization. They may even claim to be with a firm that a business owner does business with. If someone you do not know calls on the phone, be sure that it is the person you think it is before revealing passwords or confidential information.
Tags: Best Practices, Business advice, SafetyWeb.com, top ten privacy and security threats to business
Posted in Business advice, Internet/New Media, IT, Security | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 A BlackBerry Playbook Research in Motion (RIM) has recalled about 1,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computers because defective software may prevent buyers from setting up their device.
The recall affects only units with 16MB of memory and most have not yet been sold, RIM said in a statement Monday. The tablets go for $499 to $699 depending on memory. The device is RIM’s attempt to broaden its market as its smartphones trail both Android models and iPhones in sales.
LinkIN boosts IPO share price 30 percent
LinkedIn, the popular business social network, is kicking up the price of shares it plans to offer in an initial public offering of stock Thursday to between $42 and $45 each, a 30 percent boost. The rise in share price indicates strong investor interest.
Analysts speculate that investor interest in LinkIn’s IPO bodes well for the other social networks expected to file for IPOs soon, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Groupon.
Mt. View, CA-based LinkedIN would raise about $341 million at a valuation of more than $4 billion if priced in the middle of its range.
AOL’s Patch launching 33 new hyperlocal sites
Patch, the hyperlocal news, information, and community arm of AOL Huffington Post Media Group, will launch 33 new sites in New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina – the first three states to hold primaries in 2012. In addition, Patch has announced the launch of the first Patch Military site: Camp Pendleton Patch.
“With its hyperlocal focus, Patch has the ability to be the eyes and ears for what is happening at the grassroots level all across the country,” said Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of AOL Huffington Post Media Group.
“By expanding to key primary states, Patch positions itself squarely on the front lines of the presidential campaign and will be able to deliver a real-time snapshot of how pivotal communities are reacting to candidates – as well as immediate feedback on whether the issues that matter most to these towns are being addressed.
Patch Military is a particularly satisfying new offering, in keeping with our efforts to ensure that America’s military families have the support they have earned. The average military family moves every 2.9 years, so it’s vital that they have a way to easily keep up with what is going on in their communities and have a platform for directly sharing news and information with their neighbors.”
The 33 new primary state sites will reflect the traditional Patch model of local news, information, and community interaction, and provide a platform for citizens, candidates, and influencers to discuss local issues and events, including the impact of national and state issues on the local landscape heading into the 2012 election season.
Designed as a non-partisan forum, the sites will utilize Patch’s team of local professional journalists to offer comprehensive coverage of the issues in play, instead of a “horse race” approach to reporting. Additionally, the sites will offer interactive features like blogging and polls, social media tools, candidate questionnaires and video interviews.
Tags: AOL Patch launching 33 new hyperlocal sites, Blackberry Playbook recalled, LinkedIn IPO, Patch Military, RIM
Posted in Internet/New Media, IPOs, IT, social media, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 ATLANTA -Half Off Depot, an Atlanta-based social commerce company, has secured $7 million in series A funding led by Noro-Moseley Partners, with BLH Venture Partners, and Linch Capital participating. The investment will be used to support further technology development, sales growth and market expansion.
Half Off Depot enables merchants to harness the power of social media and the appeal of deal-driven commerce to attract and retain customers.
“Half Off Depot offers merchants something more than consumers who are just shopping for deals,” said Alan Taetle, general partner at Noro-Moseley. “The company harnesses a trend in which local marketing spend is being re-allocated from traditional media to online outlets. It provides merchants a cost-effective way to acquire customers, build online presence, and generate repeat purchases,” he added.
Lance Weatherby, a 16-year Internet veteran most recently with Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center, participated in the fund raising and has joined the company’s executive team as vice president of business development and sales.
Weatherby brings extensive experience growing revenues at early-stage companies to Half Off Depot. He has served in executive roles at MindSpring, EarthLink, and CipherTrust.
“Of the hundreds of start-ups I have had the opportunity to meet these last few years, this is one of the most exciting and promising,” noted Weatherby. “I am eager to come in and accelerate Half Off Depot’s growth alongside the team as well as renewing the working relationship Alan and I enjoyed at MindSpring.”
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Alan Taetle, ATDC, Half Off Depot, Lance Weatherby, Noro-Mosely Partners, social commerce
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 ATLANTA – 2080 Media, doing business as PlayON Sports, has raised $1 million from a mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing. The company raised $3 million to buy PlayON Sports from Turner in 2008 and $2.18 million in an equity round in August 2010. PlayOn Sports focuses producting, aggregating and distributing high school sports content.
Investors in the digital media company include Buckhead Investement Partners, Noro-Moseley Partners, Imlay Investments, and Hamilton Ventures.
The company’s board includes many well-known Atlanta digital media and venture capital pros, including Greg Foster, Sig Moseley (of Imlay), Mark Buffington of BIP, and James Hamilton of Hamilton Ventures.
PlayOn Sports’ business includes:
- Production and distribution of over 30 different high school sports
- Coverage of over 2,000 high school championships
- 10,000+ total events produced annually
- Distribution partnerships with major national companies, including ESPN, Fox, Comcast, Charter, Time Warner Cable
The company merged with Madison-WI-based When We Were Young Productions in May last year.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: 2080 Media, Buckhead Investement Partners, financing, Greg Foster, Hamilton Ventures, Imlay Investments, James Hamiltons, Mark Buffington, Noro Moseley Partners, PlayON! Sports, Sig Mosley, Turner, When We Were Young Productions
Posted in Georgia, Internet/New Media, Money | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Bryan Brown, RMM Online Advertising By Peggy Duncan
Bryan Brown, VP of Business Development/Creative Director, RMM Online Advertising, in the afternoon online advertising session yesterday made the following points:
Whenever a user looks for a solution to what they need to get done, they’re confronted with so many choices. In order for technology in advertising to be effective, it must have these five qualities.
- Compelling. Advertising still has to catch the attention and keep it.
- Invisible. It needs to do things well and fast, work flawlessly, and be self-teaching.
- Useful. The technology needs to solve their problem.
- Memorable. Will it touch their heart enough for them to remember?
- Trackable. Make use of behavioral tracking.
Not able to attend the Digital Summit this time? Follow the Twitter take-aways at #Dsum11.
Bryan Brown is responsible for RMM’s corporate marketing and the development of strategic partnerships with advertising agencies. Brown also provides creative and technical leadership and art direction for RMM’s creative department. Before joining RMM, he served as the creative director for advertising agencies and has worked extensively in the areas of graphic design and UI/UX development.
Bryan eats, sleeps, and breathes online technology, and is a true technology evangelist, applying his expertise to create solutions for client’s brands.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, Bryan Brown, Digital Summit 2011, online advertising session, Peggy Duncan, RMM Advertising
Posted in Events, Google, Internet/New Media, Marketing | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
 Eli Goodman, comScore Inc. By Peggy Duncan
At TechMedia’s Digital Summit in Atlanta yesterday, Eli R. Goodman, Search Evangelist, comScore, offered lessons learned from building brands with online advertising in an afternoon session.
Three main lessons:
Click-Throughs
You can’t base the success of your advertising campaign based on the clicks. Although there are 50 percent fewer clicks on ads than there were in the past, research shows that exposure to online ads lift online and offline sales. ComScore data, for instance shows that display advertising boost in store package goods sales whether users click on the ads or not. Click-throughs at best, are an incomplete record of user behavior.
Accurate Delivery of Media Plan
You have to know who your advertising is reaching. Forty percent of consumers that are exposed to your advertising are outside of your target group.
Video Holds the Key to Capturing Branding Dollars. 173 million people saw an online video last month.
You don’t have to spend more dollars for a better reach. For example, combining TV ads (90% of ad dollars) with online video (10% of ad dollars) can increase your reach by 5.1 percent and increase your effective reach by 15.9 percent.
If you’re not at the Digital Summit at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, you can follow the action via Twitter at #dsum11.
Here’s a few take-aways from the Twitter stream on this session yesterday:
8 percent of web users generate 85 percent of ad clicks.
Exposure to display ads lifts in-store sales as well.
Global click through rates are incredibly low.
The average online advertising click thru rate in the #USA is only .1%
ROI shouldn’t be an after thought! Start with planning!
“The click is at best an incomplete and at worst a misleading metric in evaluating the effectiveness of online display ad campaigns”
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: click-throughs, comScore, delivery of media plan, Elis Goodman, online advertising, video key
Posted in Events, Internet/New Media, Marketing | Comments Off
Monday, May 16th, 2011
 Bert DuMars ATLANTA – Many of the folks arriving at the Digital Summit at the Cobb Galleria today tweeted they were impressed with the attendance. By the time the event cranked up, some noted you could tell what the hot topic of the moment was as people packed the Social Media Marketing panel, which one person in the room estimated at about 400.
It featured Natalie Johnson, manager of Digital and Social Media (and “happiness ambassador”) at the Coca Cola Co., Bert DuMars, vice president of E-Business and Interactive Marketing at Newell Rubermaid, and Liza Arango, social commerce lead at AT&T. They all provided take-aways tweeted by more than one in attendance. It’s amazing, actually, how the major ideas of each speaker show up in repeated tweets. (You can follow tweets from the event (@#dsum11).
Here’s a sample:
A company doesn’t own the brand, the consumer does.
Fish where the fish are – be with your customers in their space. Let go, give up control and let fans create the content.
You will learn more from your customers than from your company.
Consumers drive the conversation through content creation.
You learn more from the outside than you ever learn from the inside.
Starting buzz before a social campaign bst way to ensure success..
Companes create impressions, consumers create expressions.
Coca Cola doesn’t directly measure ROI in terms of sales, but in terms of impressions.
Social listening key to brand success.
Brands – if you haven’t gotten into social media yet, it’s never too late.
Bert DuMars: keep them talking.
There’s a conversation around your brand online. And it’s happening with or without you.
Word of mouth will kill you when you don’t know.
Social communications should be current, relevant, and authentic.
If people keep talking, it keeps selling. The first review is just as important as the last.
Ratings and reviews inspire consumer confidence and guide consumer behaviors. Allow consumers to have their voice heard.
Respond to negative reviews publicly.
Honest web ratings and reviews are critical to social transparency.
The more people that talk about your brand online, the higher your sales will be.
Syndicating reviews amplifies the value of your product reviews. Syndicate reviews everywhere.
Develop a process for responding to positive and negative customer reviews.
Those that read reviews are 51% more likely to convert.
Integrate reviews into marketing assets like blogs.
Brand managers can use negative reviews to fuel innovation & create better product.
Use of ratings on marketing materials like coupons resulted in increased coupon redemption.
We also saw numerous tweets from the VC and e-commerce sessions and will be reporting further as the event continues.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: #dsum11, AT&T, Bert DuMars, Coca Cola, Digital Summit 2011, happiness ambassator, LIsa Arango, Natalie Johnson, Rubbgermaid Newell, social media marketing panel, Twitter take-aways from Digital Summit 2011
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing | Comments Off
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