Archive for May, 2008

Article Series Keep ‘Em Coming Back

Since the days of silent movies, people have loved the “serial” and they haven’t failed in keeping audiences involved.

“Tune in to see what happens next week.” “To Be Continued.” These are two phrases that television viewers have had to contend with for decades. Hearing this phrase at the end of a show sends groans across the living room. But as much as we hate to hear these words at the end of a television show, these phrases have kept us coming back. Again and again. The same concept can be used in blogging. Instead of calling it a serial, we call it an article series.

An article series is just what it sounds like. A series of articles posted to a blog over a short period of time. For a professional’s blog, I don’t recommend stringing out a series over a succession of weeks. In the fast-moving blogosphere, people just won’t pay attention that long. But creating your series over a number of days is perfectly acceptable, and probably very strategic. Since business blogs should ideally post a minimum of once per day, an article series stretched over the better part of a week is a great tactic to employ to get readers coming back over a specific time period. This tactic can, and does, work very well for professionals like financial planners, accountants, lawyers, etc.

So, yes, you’ve guessed it.

I’m splitting this post into pieces. You’ll need to return on Monday to hear some specific suggestions on topics professionals can use in article series to capture the attention of their readers.

See what happens Monday.  To be continued.  Don’t miss it!

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What’s Really Fueling the Increase in Energy Costs?

Time to think a little bit. Have you been listening a lot lately to wanna-be presidential candidates blame the cost of energy on the government? Of course, you have. Who hasn’t listened to them do one of the things they do best. Yet, these same candidates don’t blame themselves as part of the government. No, they blame the head of the government. It’s always easy to do that. What’s this got to do with social media? Don’t worry. I’ll get to it.

It’s always quite amazing that every four years the price of oil is blamed on the American administration, no matter who happens to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania. Instead of relying on invective and conjecture, by self-serving and self-interested politicians, I decided to do a little research myself. Well, it’s what I do for a living and it comes quite naturally.

What’s really causing the rise in oil prices?

First, let’s set aside what’s been happening this year so far. We’re less than five months into 2008 and in terms of reliable research to assign cause, five months of a partially completed year just aren’t going to lend any credibility to the research. Including the last four and one-half months, and the volatility of oil in that period, in the research would only emulate what the pols are currently doing which is trying to develop a trend from an aberration. No, I don’t want to be that self-serving. Let’s, instead, look at some reliable data collected over a longer period of time, a true trend, a time by which we can establish a pattern.

The Research

I looked at the historical price of crude over the ten year period of 1997-2007. You can see the figures I used, which were all adjusted for inflation, by clicking through to this site, InflationData.com for the historic price of oil and Chinability.com for the historic GDP of China. Why did I pick the GDP of China? Sorry, but I suspect they might be the cause. Presumptive? From a pure research standpoint, perhaps. But a theory must start somewhere.

Crunch the numbers along with me. Here’s what I calculated:

The Results

Real Annual Growth Rates 1997 – 2007: Oil – 10.5%. Chinese GDP – 13%. (Rounded)

Gee whiz. Could it be that the industrialization of this huge country is driving the price of oil? I say yes. And it certainly sounds a lot more believable than what self-serving candidates are telling me is the cause of high oil prices.

What’s all this got to do with social media?

Okay. So here’s the take-away. Social media, like the one you’re reading now, can be a great weapon in the war against falsehood. Business needs to use these media to get the real story out, to educate the public against traditional media and political sensationalism created to either sell ads or to get an empty-headed, inexperienced, self-serving, appeasing, pandering poser into the most powerful office in the world. (Name your own bubble head.)

Business can die by the truth, and keep it to themselves. Or business can live by the truth, and share it with others. The choice is, of course, theirs.

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The Last Full Measure of Devotion

In the U.S. today, we’re celebrating Memorial Day. Right now I’m doing something other than blogging. Like observing the sacrifices that others have made so that I can continue to do what I’m doing. Which is actually not blogging right at this moment, thanks to the luxury of time stamping a post.

So, to all in the U.S., Happy Memorial Day. Remember those who, as Lincoln said and did, gave “the last full measure of devotion.”

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Finding the Time to Change Technorati Screen Name

After having different screen names on different social networks for too long, I’ve found some time to correct that social media faux pas and consolidate my activity under one screen name, RichardKahuna. That’s what this post is for.Some of you may know that one way to claim your blog on Technorati.com is by putting in a special code, such as this one: Technorati Profile.

So there it is. Look for me on Twitter.com, StumbleUpon.com, Digg.com, and now Technorati.com under RichardKahuna. I still have to switch my Del.icio.us. account, and I’ll get to that one soon.

So many networks, so little time.

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Test Your Social Media IQ

Here’s a cute little test to see how much you know about social media. It’s given by Business Week and you may access it by clicking here.

But watch out. When I took it, I actually scored a 100%, but the tally at the end told me I only scored 70%.

Recommendation: Keep your own score as you move through the quiz.

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Comcast Buys Plaxo

Last week it was announced that Comcast had acquired Plaxo, the social networking site. Apparently the plan is to integrate the social site into the television offerings. You know, show recommendations, stuff like that.

Well, show recs are OK with me. But while I’m relaxing with an episode of Lost, I don’t want to be IMing with people I IMed all day long. Quite frankly at 10PM I’ve had enough of banal social network convos for the day and I just want to kick back.

Has Comcast really thought this through? Did they actually do any market research?

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Social Network Interconnect Tres Bien & JIT

The current efforts to interconnect profile updates are definitely well timed. JIT, Just in Time. In an article I read recently, one expert forecast that social networks will grow from the current 850 to about 250,000 within a year. With that Google Friend Connect service enabling social network creation like crazy, I don’t doubt it. In fact I talked about this type of social media fragmentation in a recent post.

Sheesh, with that kind of market fragmentation and proliferation of social networks, an interconnect facility is definitely needed. I mean, who wants to repost profile changes to 45 or so social networks. And why would anyone want to belong to 45 or so social networks anyway? And hold down a full-time job, too.

250,000 within a year? By May 2009? Could be. And how about this? Back down to, say, 100,000 by May 2010? Yeah, after the disappointment with participation results results. As was suggested in the article, just like all those web portals back in the 1990s. And maybe a lot fewer than 100,000. We’ll see.

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