European Underachiever Tails

The brain at Google

2009-12-07T15:58:00.001+01:00

"The Club Med of corporations
Having two young children, I found to my horror recently that I was going to a Club Med for one of our family vacations. A day or so into the holiday I discovered something surprising. The formula at Club Med is to include pretty much everything in the price, activities, food, even drinks, giving you fewer decisions to make. Now I know the research on decision making, and how making any conscious decision uses a measurable amount of glucose, but I wasn't prepared for how relaxing it was not having to think anywhere near as much, even about simple things. It turned out to be a remarkably restful holiday."

Amazing fact, after all our brains are not really good in dealing with multiple choices, and when it does, it at the expenses of a great amount of energy !
I can see 2 lines from this fact..
One It's common said that pilots can handle 2 failures at the same time, but a third is fatal.
Is this a real upper limit?
Should we monitor our decision making to less than 2 options, and if this is the case how to lower the option count?
Second, if decision making takes a lot of brain power.. what type of food we need to food our brains for this type of work?

Facebook: From Bleeding Edge to Main Stream..

2009-03-27T11:51:00.004+01:00

Hi,
Check this information:

Facebook (and other social networks) has been skewing older for a while, but the trend has been "massive" in the past six months, according to InsideFacebook.com. In the past two months alone the number of new members over 35 has doubled. Marketers take note: the median age is now over 25, and the largest single group 35 to 44.
Facebook is Your Father's (and Mother's) Social Network | Epicenter from Wired.com

Interesting enough is not young people who are embracing the FaceBook wave, but the middle aged.
This will have a big impact on the way we connect to people from our generation.
Regards,
JP

How to Use Your GMail Account as an OpenID

2008-12-05T14:41:00.002+01:00

Have you noticed that sites like Blogger, Plaxo, and Tweetlater now support OpenID?

Some of them can also act as OpenID servers, and you can use them for identifying yourself when joining new services.
This is very handy, because it will eliminate the need to wait for the confirmation request email in your inbox.

To use your gmail account as your OpenID identifier:

Go to http://openid-provider.appspot.com/
and login using your Google login and password.
On the screen you will see your OpenID URL with this format:
http://openid-provider.appspot.com/abc@xyz.com where abc@xyz.com is your GMail address. Copy Paste this URL to a safe place.

To test it: go to www.Blogger.com and sign on using your OpenID URL.

Will Google Chrome be your next OS?

2008-09-02T09:48:00.001+02:00

A fresh take on the browser

9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM

At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.

Reading between the lines, I can only say kudos to the Google team.
They have found a way to disrupt the market again.
The browser is the next frontier, and the one who controls the browser will have a first hand control on what the customers see, watch, listen and consume.

On the technical front, they have their back covered, and then some more..
"Google Chrome" is an Operating system, coupled with a Web Based Interface.

How long will it take for the market to deliver the first Chrome computer?

Identificateurs Technorati : Chrome, Google Chrome

30DC lessons learned #1

2008-08-18T11:08:00.001+02:00

I had to go back to the basics, and review my copy of the PDF ‘s from day 2 and 3, to complete my market research.
Market Samurai is an excellent tool, and you should master it before moving further.
But as any tool, it is only as good as you are making sense of the results.

Watch out for incomplete result from Market Samurai.. And always validate your findings with Google:

1. Check the number of competing pages of your phrase in quotes, using goolge.
2. Check that you are using US results if not in America. (see http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2006/07/meaning-of-parameters-in-google-query.html for the hl parameter).
3. If in doubt, check if your competition is using Web2.0 marketing (is the site bookmarked in SU, using firefox SeoQuake). It’s more difficult to beat a web2.0 site

Launched: The Domain ReActivator Download Site

2008-06-28T20:37:00.004+02:00

Hi,
I'm please to announce that the updated version of the eBay-Amazon-Adsense mashup script is now ready for download. The issues with eBay have been fixed, and I have created a short installation guide that explains the registration steps in each service.

To download the script visit the Domain ReActivator site:
http://www.domainreactivator.com

Regards,
Juan Pablo

THE STORY OF A SIGN

2008-06-04T20:50:00.002+02:00

Open you heart and listen.
Enjoy :-)

Problem Fixed: Ebay Partner Network

2008-05-12T17:26:00.001+02:00

Hi,
I had some time to work on the 45in5 mashup script, and I got it working for the new affiliate program from eBay (check it out at http://www.digitalphotoartclub.com/ )

The script is still not ready for the public, but it will be soon...
Make sure that subscribe to the feed, if you don’t want to miss the release.

Regards,
JP

Mashup Script Updated

2008-02-02T07:58:00.001+01:00

Hi!,
In the best spirit of a mashup, Ran Aroussi created a new script based on 45in5 mashup script.
Then I decided to port Ran's ideas into my own version..

The new version of the script has:

PHP 4 and 5 compatible.
Caching for better performance.
Adsense ads
Fixed some problems with CSS on IE.

I'm also working a mashup with a twist... Imagine if your site could join a network of related sites, and exchange links based on the page keywords?

If you want to know more about this project, make sure you subscribe to this site.

To download the latest version: http://www.domainreactivator.com

Regards,
JP

HowTo: Build A Youtube Ebay Amazon Mashup Affiliate Site In Under Ten Minutes

2007-11-21T23:54:00.003+01:00

From 45n5 website:

A Free script to build a Youtube Ebay Amazon Mashup Affiliate Site with a video tutorial:
First check out the video:

The 45n5 site has also the pointer to a version that uses Youtube + adwords, but that is not an option for me as I do not live in the USA (required for adense/youtube).

The script works as advertised, only minor problem was getting the codes from amazon, ebay, and youtube.
With the codes at hand, selecting the keywords was the next step... you will need some testing to weed out those that do return sensible results for your site. Also keep this list to a maximum of 10 phrases.
If you want to see the first of my sites:
Digital Photo Art Club

The script requires PHP5, (little detail that I discover too late), and that I have fixed using the Domit Library..
You can download the PHP4 Version here: http://www.domainreactivator.com

Enjoy.

Identificateurs Technorati : youtube, amazon, ebay, mashup

How to demo Anything

2007-11-19T11:13:00.001+01:00

Joel is back from his tour promoting FogBugz, and has an excellent article on giving a presentation:

The only interesting way to design a demo is to make it a story.

You have a protagonist, and the protagonist has a problem, and they use the
software, and they… almost solve the problem, but not quite, and then
everybody is in suspense, while you tell them some boring stuff that doesn’t
fit anywhere else, but they’re still listening raptly because they’re waiting
to hear the resolution to the suspenseful story, and then (ah!) you solve the
protagonists last problem, and all is well.
There is a reason people
have been sitting around telling stories around campfires for the last million
years or so:
people like stories.

You can read it all at:How to demo software

Asking for Advice

2007-11-07T15:10:00.001+01:00

James Brausch has and interesting remark on the way some people will behave:

Internet Business 101

It is common to ask for directions in Costa Rica because there are no street signs and the people are very friendly. Cab drivers even ask for directions. However, everyone also knows that Costa Rican´s aren´t very confrontational. They will try to help regardless. So they will give wrong directions. The cab drivers know to only follow directions for a little ways before confirming them with someone else.

You can apply this principle to almost any situation where you ask for directions, and more specifically when looking for directions on the way that you should go on your Internet Business..

The point is not to stop asking for help, but to be sure that you frequently control your position regarding your targets.

See you Next Time..

Another Special From James Brausch, My personal saga

2007-10-16T14:18:00.001+02:00

James Brausch has another 24hs Special this time wit a long list of his products, some of them I own them, and some will complete my arsenal of tools...
As I have been more than please with James Products on the past, I had to admit that I jumped into action, without much thought..

And then my worries started...
After completing the payment with paypal, I was not directed to the download page..
Normally it should be no problem, as normally the information is also sent by email..
But this time, no email.. Strange.

Because I have bought from him in the past, I said to my self, there should be some sort of problem in his side, nothing that a good old email can't solve...I wrote a polite email with a proof of copy and fired it 4hrs ago.

After patiently waiting for someone to replay, I have decided to send a second email and wait another couple of hours.

But this lead me into a reflection ..

James is constantly teaching that you should automate as much a possible, to the point that in some cases even the refund are handled automatically by the system software.

it's neat, it works until one day loyal customers like me, are trapped into his net.

With no answer to emails..

Without a way to solve the problems...

Without no other way to deal with this issue than writing a blog post to expose the problem, expecting that their system will pick this post back link, and someone finally recognize that I deserve a reply.

Have a great day,
Juan Pablo

Latest Update....

It seems that it was my short attention span that trigered all this mess...
This is a short explanation they sent me:

Hi Juan,

It's not possible to download a piece of paper. Did you read the special?
If not, you can read it here:

http://www.JamesBrausch.com

I won't be sending it out until the special is over at noon. It will then
take a couple of days for the postal service to deliver the piece of paper
to you.

So, what I paid was not downlodeable right away.
I will have to read it more carefully next time.

Technorati Tags: 24hr Special, Jame Brausch, Internet Marketing

Open Question Time...

2007-10-08T11:47:00.001+02:00

This post is in response to J.D. Brausch "Open Question Time"
I'm currently on a low activity period..
My energy supply seems to have reach a low point..
so my question at this moment would be:

How do you create an actionable plan, specifically crafted for periods where you are low on energy?
I'm looking for a plan that can at least show some results in a short term, to pump up morale.

Regards,
JP

Getting ready for the 30DC

2007-07-31T15:00:00.000+02:00

The 30 Days Challenge is Back, and ready to Roll!
This year is WEB 2.0, and the target has been increased times 10..
But no worries, Ed is going to lead the troops into the IM battlefield.

See you on the other side..

What Is Web 2.0?

2007-03-28T14:42:00.001+02:00

With more than 163 Million references in Google, Web 2.0 is one of the most over hyped misused terms today, even by technical people like me.

If you really want to learn what web 2.0 means in terms of business models and economics, the article "

Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software" by Tim O'Reilly is the place to start. has a done great job taking the reader in a tour departing from web 1.0 and their economics to the new models and possibilities offered by then Web 2.0.

The good news is that more than before, nobody owns Web 2.0, and nobody can control it. Collaboration between platforms and user participation are the threads that build the tissue of the Web 2.0, and although new technologies likeAjax are seldom used, they are not a pre-requisite for it. Web 2.0 is not about technology, it is about the user experience.

The Web has proven that it can adapt and evolve at a very fast pace...

Can you?

Web 2.0: Yahoo Pipes

2007-02-13T10:36:00.001+01:00

Yahoo has just released a very interesting tool, Yahoo Pipes.
For those that still remember the command lines, pipes are an oldfriend, for those that where born when the GUI parading, pipe is the mechanism that allows the output of one command to be used as the input of another.

But this time Yahoo has come with a web based, user friendly tool that allows the user to combine different data sources like Google searches, Flickr and do simple processing on then results.

The result is a RSS feed that has been processed to your needs.
If you are using RSS feeds in your sites, this is a great tool.

http://pipes.yahoo.com/

Microsoft to go after eBay's PayPal?

2007-01-29T18:05:00.001+01:00

"If you want to charge somebody $0.10 or $1 a month, that will just be a click … you won’t have to manage some funny thing or pay some big credit charge, where half of it goes to the clearing,” Mr. Gates said.

Now, this is a sign that we are web ecommerce is reaching maturity. So far we have seen solutions for small amount transactions, but micro payments solutions have failed to create enough attraction to flourish.
The problemis that when margins are thin; companies try to make the business
more attractive, by cutting edges.

If you where Visa or MC, will you go into a partnership with Microsoft?

Internet Marketing, Lies, dam lies and statistics

2007-01-28T14:37:00.000+01:00

If you are like me, you probably are exposed to 20 different sales letters every day. They all claim that their product or system works for them, and that it has worked for others. But most of the time they fail to show the process used to reach their conclusions, for you to be able to:

Repeat the process and obtain the same results.
Understand the particular constraints of the solution.

These 2 points are in fact at the base of the scientific method. Apply them to create products, and they will bring much more than tools that can be used to solve specific problems, they will also instruct and teach the user on the benefits and limitations of such approach.

During the last months, I have followed 2 different roads:

A.Ranking Factors, from James Brausch.
B.The Master Plan from SEO2020

For those that are not familiar with them, The Master Plan is an excellent technique that is used to create web sites with high ranking on the search engines. They have followed the latest changes in SEO technology and come out with a site structure that takes benefit from the inner works of the SE to gain better rankings.

Ranking Factors, on the other side, uses statistical analysis to determine the in page factors that affect the raking of a page on the search engines. James has done a great job, explaining the how this analysis was conducted, and the conclusions derived from the results. He has even repeated the same analysis 2 years later, and validated and corrected the results.

These two different approaches to the same objective of high page rank in the SE contradict themselves in many areas. Both can produce proof that they work. But only one Ranking Factors has followed a method that can be repeated over and over to validate the results.

No Why this is important in Internet Marketing?

With so many offers and so many variables, we need a better set of criteria to help us to take action. By filtering out offers that only provide proof, but do not explain the methods they used to reach their conclusions, a large number of the every day noise can be avoided..

Regards,
JP

Testing : The one skill that differentiate the professionals from the rest of the herd.

2006-11-22T23:22:00.000+01:00

If there is something that we marketers know by now, is that our filed is getting more and more professionalized each year. Gone are the days that setting a simple site were all that was needed to make money on line.

Today, to really succeed on line you have to be relentless in only one thing, testing.

Testing is the ultimate way to know what makes your market to buy, to respond, to follow. Things like copywriting are still needed, but any a good copywriter will tell you the same...

Test, Test, Test…

Testing is a simple concept to understand, given 2 choices for the same variable, the one that produces the best results win. But from understanding to implementation of a successful testing strategy there is a long series of issues to consider like then number of samples needed to have a valid answer, or the possible correlation between the different variables on the same test, or even between different values of the same test. And this is only part of the story, translating them into concrete actions, will require setting multiple pages, handling versions of the same page, and controlling the results.

So is normal to think that good testing software is rare to found, and very expensive…

And it was that case, until now …

Finally you can have software that will actually take all the complexity of testing multiple variables on the same page, with a simple interface, with minimum of complexity, and no need to know any math or statistics.

Muvar is the brain child of James D. Brausch, the creator of Statistical Copywriting, and Glyphius. James has a degree in Statistics, and is a very proficient Internet Marketer. He created Muvar for his own use and after seeing the excellent results he has got from it, it has decided to release it to the public, at a price that is one third of that the other products in the market cost.

http://undiescafe.com/recommends/muvar

Just as an example the sales letter of this product, is converting at a rate that will make most of us jealous: 43% (after peaking to 50%), and it that was achieved using Muvar!. Interesting enough he shows the step by step process of what he did for the Muvar copy on the training video that comes with the product.

So, if you are serious about your business, this is the one tool that you need.

And while you are there, check also Glyphius

And see how easy it is to create killer headlines.

Regards,

AdWords: Landing page QS, Now applied to the Content Network

2006-11-06T22:28:00.000+01:00

First the good News:
They are planning to roll more changes on their landing page quality score system, and they just sent a heads up message. Thank Google for this.

The not so good News:
I'm crossing my fingers that it will only affect the content network... because I'm not using it at all. I have tested ads in the content network (CN), and for my product they do not convert at a reasonable cost, when compared to the Search Ads.
I wonder if this new change will push the cost of the CN ads to a point that only but a few businesses can profit from it. Also If the impact is nearly the same as what we had with the last Search changes, that Adsense revenue from most sites will change..

Inside AdWords: Landing page quality update: "Landing page quality update
In early July, we sat down with Andrew C., product marketing manager for Ads Quality initiatives. At that time, Andrew spoke of our continuing efforts to improve the quality of our users' experience when they visit an advertiser's landing pages. Today he returns with a heads-up regarding an upcoming development:

In the next few days, we will be making two changes to how AdWords evaluates landing page quality. First, we'll begin incorporating landing page quality into the Quality Score for your contextually-targeted ads, using the same evaluation process as we do for search. Advertisers who may be providing a poor experience on their site will notice that their traffic across the content network decreases as a result of this change. Second, we're improving our algorithm for evaluating landing page quality and incorporating landing page content retrieved by the AdWords system.
"

Google focuses on Easy-To-Read content

2006-10-30T14:46:00.000+01:00

A new search index has been made public from Google, and this time is about Accessibility.Although this is in its infancy, we can see some of the current trends on SEO being trashed out by Google. Figuring out how Accessibility will be evaluated will take the SEO community some time as Google normally leaves the details as a user exercise.There are some clues that indicate that one of the factors is the quantity of text compared to the number of links that a page has. The more links the less rank.. But I guess that this is a very simplistic view, and time will tell.
For us, it means that knowing what scores well on this indexes, is a competitive advantage.

From Google Blog:
That's why I've been passionate about a project I'm working on at Google called Google Accessible Search. Accessible Search adds a small twist to the familiar Google search: In addition to finding the most relevant results as measured by Google's search algorithms, it further sorts results based on the simplicity of their page layouts. (Simplicity, of course, is subjective in this context.) When users search from the http://labs.google.com/accessible site, they'll receive results that are prioritized based on their usability.In its current version, Google Accessible Search looks at a number of signals by examining the HTML markup found on a web page. It tends to favor pages that degrade gracefully--that is, pages with few visual distractions, and pages that are likely to render well with images turned off. Google Accessible Search is built on Google Co-op's technology, which improves search results based on specialized interests.

Technorati Tags: google, searching, seo

Google Strike Again

2006-10-25T19:12:00.000+02:00

Do you have an adwords account with Analytics?

Google has rolled yet another service, Website optimizer.
As always Google is rolling out products that can have a high impact, at the cost of putting all your eggs into the same basket.

The tutorials clearly show that this product is not a Toy, but a complex multivariable testing platform. Unfortunately, this is not as simple as A/B testing, and requires some planning, and some bits of code added to your pages.

The reporting looks good, with visual indicators of the performance of the different
elements.

Another tool to test, and this time the price is attractive.

Website Optimizer: Free multivariate testing

Use Website Optimizer to test different website content. Graphical reports show which content engages your audience and results in the highest conversions. Run that content to improve your users' experience and convert visitors to customers. Complete the steps below and sign-up to participate in our beta test. We can only invite a small number of advertisers at this time, but hope to open the tool to all Advertisers over the coming months. (Please be aware that we're only able to provide English support for the Website Optimizer tool at this time.)

The Matrix, Uncut Version

2006-09-19T10:12:00.000+02:00

Get a cup of coffee,
Close the door,
Cancel your meetings,
and leave the phone off the hook...
This is the version of the Matrix; they did not want you to see.

Put Google AdWords Editor on Your Desktop

2006-06-22T12:33:00.000+02:00

Reading Andre's Blog, I found a gold pit:

Niche Marketing Blog & Newsletter: "AdWords Editor: Manage AdWords From Your Desktop
Posted Friday, Jun 09, 2006 by Andre Chaperon
AdWords Editor is a downloadable API desktop account management tool that interfaces with your live AdWords account.
Up until very recently (like last week) AdWords Editor was only available to special 'invited' advertisers with a large'ish monthly spend."

Google is always on the edge... Do they ever sleep?

PS: Andre is a fellow underachiever, and his blog is excellent. A must for your feeds.

30 Days Challenge Kick Off

2006-06-20T15:23:00.000+02:00

July is approaching fast, and what we know already is that there will be a lot of new things in this year challenge. Many things have changed since last year, and Ed has plans to cover new tools and techniques. But don’t worry when it comes down to making things simpler, they really know how to it.

What is this challenge in short?

Go from nothing to $1 in sales in 30 days or less, selling your own product in your own niche.

They will guide you step by step, through:

1. Getting ideas for Niche markets
2. Doing marketing research
3. Validating the research
4. Getting product content ideas.
5. Product development
6. Creating the sales copy
7. Capturing leads.
8. Adding a Credit card processing.
9. Getting traffic to the site
10. Selling through affiliates

This is a long list of new information, and it will take 2 or 3 hours daily (mileage may vary). Be prepared to check the forum every day, and listen to audios and videos, and then some time to apply the mew concepts to your project.

Ed is a fanatic of video and Podcasts, and it is best if you get an mp3 player (or an iPod). I load mine once a week with the new recordings, and listen to them (several times) while driving or doing exercise. If you install Itunes , it can be configured to automatically download the Podcasts to your PC, witch is a real time saver.

Getting the right organization is a must. Each day, you will have to listen, learn and apply your new skill. So plan ahead enough time for each lesson. One thing to notice is that Ed is based in , and Frank in the , so the postings may came live at different hours depending where you are in the planet. They will be also teleconferences, and if you can be there, you should. They are unique opportunities to ask your questions and get feedback.

Ok, this is enough for a start.

Head on to the Forum, create your account, and start participating in the discussions.
See you there,
Juan Pablo

PS: I’m working on a small portal for the café: http://undiescafe.com/cms
PS2: if you have not done it, rush to the Challenge Subscription site, it is starting now..

Google is like the Borg

2006-06-14T13:30:00.000+02:00

Hiding in Plain Sight, Google Seeks an Expansion of Power - New York Times

"Google is like the Borg," said Milo Medin, a computer networking expert who was a founder of the 1990's online service @Home, referring to the robotic species on "Star Trek" that was forcibly assembled from millions of species and computer components. "I know of no other carrier or enterprise that distributes applications on top of their computing resource as effectively as Google."

This is a scary thought... Google Network is the largest networked
computer in the planet. Think about 800.000 servers around the world.

And we are becoming addicted to it….

Life is made of interuptions, How do you Manage them?

2006-06-14T10:33:00.000+02:00

E L S U A ~ A KM Blog » Work Life Balance: "The article itself is titled The High Cost of Interruptions and it has been published in KMWorld. It comes to talk how disruptive interruptions could be for the knowledge worker and how it is becoming increasingly more difficult to manage those interruptions in order to continue being productive. Indeed, it looks like attention management is an art and as such it would require some effort to be able to master it effectively. I think we would all recognise and identify very much with the article itself, even more if we are currently involved working in multiple teams / communities. I bet that more than once you have received multiple IM sessions, or several urgent e-mails that would require your attention almost immediately, or a phone call that has been on hold for a while already, or all of a sudden somebody knocks on the door wanting to ask something. Sounds familiar, right?"

Yes, this is one of my biggest challenges today.
Getting things done, even the simple ones is becoming a mayor source of stress.

Things that improve my attention:
1. Close down email.
2. Close down IM.
3. Make a list of things to do during your day, early in the morning.
4. Use tabs for useful information, and move on.
5. Listening to music is OK, but listening to Podcasts is BAD for concentration.

July 30 days Callenge, Are you Ready?

2006-06-10T18:05:00.000+02:00

Mark next July on your calendar!
Ed Dale and Frank Kern will run their 30 days Challenge again this July.
It's a FREE, 30 days no BS program to get your first site, with your own product, making money ($1) in 30 days or less.
This is a great program if you want to learn Internet Marketing from some of the top guys, and participate in one of the most vibrant community.

Listen what other people say about last year event:
http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/audio/thirtydaysII1.m4a
(You will need itunes to listen this audio)
To get started now: http://undiescafe.com

See you in July!

About Showing the Price of the Product Up Front

2006-06-07T15:07:00.000+02:00

Karyn has posted an interesting article, in her blog:
The Self-Employment Blog where she discusses a research done by Nielson for the B2B market, on usability. The research points out that most of the B2B sites turn off customers, by not showing the prices until very late into the process. Then she suggests to apply the same fix to the B2C market.

We all know the issue: How many times you have clicked the buy button, just to get the price information without having to scroll down pages and pages?

But I'm not sure that we should fix this in such simple way.
We face a dilemma, if we show the price too soon, prospects may be turned off without even giving a chance to the sales letter, do this at the very end of the sales copy and then it may be already too late.

Is there a better alternative?
What is your experience?

Google Spreadsheets

2006-06-06T17:11:00.000+02:00

This new offer from Google, is sending some interesting signals:

1. Will the desktop remain attached to the PC, or will be network based?
2. Will this trend of web based tools (mail, calendar, IM, word processing, file storage, VOIP, Video) finally start to erode the stronghold of Microsoft as the owner of the desktop?

I personally favour network based tools. Until I find my self disconnected from the net :-)
This is less common these days but still not that uncommon, but in 5 years time I can see that connection to the net will be given for granted in most of the world.
Net based applications have some advantages

Centrally managed, No need to install.
Access from any desktop. No need to carry your laptop with you.
Easy Sharing among users.
No cost or very low cost.

But some questions will have to be answered:

Privacy.
Economic Model, including healthy competition.
Dependability. Like water or electricity, will computer services became "public services"?

Today, it feels like party time. Web 2.0 applications are delivering good quality services, at the right price. But I'm not sure that the complete model can scale up to the complete food chain.

How to Break Your Mental Constipation

2006-06-01T15:48:00.000+02:00

Sometimes We Just Need a Good Kick to Start Moving.

Many times we wander without clear objectives, and we seem to be just waiting for something to come to us.
Why not direct that into a directed planned thing?.
Our Brain is just like our body, it needs to be feed with new things, fresh ideas to grow.

Form Greg Balanko-Dickson Blog Business Performance Coaching

I am reading the book Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall. On page 192 he asks a series of questions:

What have you done to stimulate your brain?
How many hobbies have you engaged in?
How many physical activities?

He says that regardless of your numbers it is time to ramp up your activity and makes the following suggestions:

Read a magazine of book that you normally wouldn’t bother with.
Exercise your body, it stimulates the brain and impacts your ability to think smarter and more creatively.
Create a craft project you would not normally do.
Learn a new skill or take a class.
Cook a meal from scratch.
Enjoy music and all kinds. Try a podcast.
Experience new people and engage in meaningful conversations.
Write your thoughts on paper.
Travel to a foreign destination.
Visit museums.

----

I will add some to my own:

Call a friend and arrange a get together.

Offer your help to someone.

We only have a limited time, any activity is better than doing nothing.

NEAT LIVING BLOG - Neat Ideas for Living

2006-05-31T11:30:00.000+02:00

One of the things that is happening in my life, is that I'm collecting bits of information in the form of printed pages.
I have them in "neat" piles all over my office. They are resources, but how good can they be if to locate something I will have to spend more than 5' locating the right pile of paper to start by?

It seems that I'm not alone with this problem:
NEAT LIVING BLOG - Neat Ideas for Living: "it still amazes me how much weight and stress is lifted from your shoulders when you clear clutter. How much more easily you can breathe when your to do list shrinks. And to be honest, because Alan & I cleared our clutter together, it felt kinda like we had a date! Seriously, we had a chance to connect, talk, and make decisions on things that affect our life together. And we had some fun too as we found things that made us laugh, took breaks to play with the cats, etc. In the hustle of everyday life, we don't get a chance to spend a whole day together very often."

This is something that I may do..
Have a Clutter cleaning day, with my wife.

Google Cheat Sheets (Version 1.05)

2006-05-29T10:34:00.000+02:00

Google Cheat Sheets (Version 1.05)

This is a great resource!
Finally someone has compiled a chart for Google services in a compact form.
Does anyone know if the same exist for Yahoo?

Google Introduce Video Ads

2006-05-24T09:35:00.000+02:00

From the Google adsense site:

Introducing video ads

Introducing the newest member of the AdSense ad family--click-to-play video ads.
Video ads will compete in the same auction as text and image ads for
placement on your site, and as we've mentioned before,
increased competition in the ad auction means increased revenue
potential for you. Video ads open your site up to a whole new type of
advertising that is engaging and highly relevant for your users.

We know you're curious as to what these new video ads look like, so here's a sneak preview:

Is this a trend? Or it will be the next big thing?
Audio has been one of the greatest additions to the web, and now video is coming as the next big thing. Ads will never be the same with video, but I fear that the web will become as polluted with them as it happens on television.
In fact, before video ads, we had those flash ads, and I should say that most of the time they are a distraction for me.
Whatever your position is for Video Ads, Google still Rocks.

Rules of engagement

2006-05-22T10:06:00.000+02:00

Visiting Mirona Iliescu Blog I notice the that she has a very creative
footer:

"Rules of engagement: I will stand by everything I've written even if I'm
not that person anymore. If you write to me, I will take the liberty to blog
that; you'd better write blogging material. If I leave out some source, it will
be a good idea to point it out for me. If you want to donate to me or sponsor
me, I expect you to send a check or an offer and not count on my feminine
intuition guiding me towards you. Even if it can do that. The rest is
details."

What I really like:
1. It is Direct.
2. It is funny.
3. Has Spirit.
4. She does not ask for a drink, but you can send her some money. I'm sure she
knows how to convert that into red gold.

I don't have thought about adding my own footers, and the implications of the use of the comments on my own postings, but the idea of writing down that content will be used is very powerful.

Bits, Information, knowledge, action, and RESULTS

2006-04-24T10:33:00.000+02:00

My hard disc reached full status this week end.
Yet this is a 10Gb downloads only space now full off marketing information mostly PDF, programs and audios collecting during a 2 years period.
I'm sure you have been there and if you are thinking "so what get a bigger one, and move on", please hang on with me for a second.

What is the difference between a disk full of information and an empty one at the physical level?
None visible, just the way that the bits are magnetized...
What is the difference on perceived value of my own drive versus an empty one?
For me a lot, for I know the potential of the information contained.
Those bits are no more just bits; they are information to me.
Information that has the potential to turn my wildest dreams into reality.

But information alone is not the end of the story, I have to know and relate this information to my current situation, and see in witch ways it can be applied, to get some value out of it.
Once that information has been transformed into knowledge, it has much more potential value than just plain information.

But not much has changed on the outside; I still have the same results, I’m still the same person, dreaming the same dreams.

Can you see what is missing?
ACTION
Now the interesting thing is that we can put a value to:
- Bits
- Information
- Knowledge
But none of this will produce any real benefit for us until we take action.

So what is the most important thing in this chain?
ACTION
Action is the only thing that will take your from where you are now to the place you want to be.
Action is the only thing that will transform knowledge into results, dreams into reality.

So what is the next action are you going take?

Perceptions of the Boomer Generation

2006-02-20T11:57:00.000+01:00

I was doing some research on the Boomer Generation, to get a picture of what is common about them. And then found this piece from Hellen.
What is important to remember is that even if we try to analyse them from a marketing perspective, they are still a group of individuals, and as such each one is unique.
Not to say that they will change the rules of the game in certain aspects. Their concerns will became mainstream, and issues like age discrimination will have to be reframed to the new situation.

Ellen Goodman: : "My opinion Ellen Goodman: Boomer generation tale of two perceptions"
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.03.2006
In retrospect, it was the perfect way to begin The Year The Baby Boomers Turned 60. After all, the audience for the Rolling Stones concert was divided roughly into two demographics:
One generation (mine) was awestruck that anyone our age could rock and roll for two straight hours without Advil or a stretcher. The younger generation couldn't believe they were even at a rock concert by a band mostly in their 60s."

Read the rest at: Boomer generation tale of two perceptions | www.azstarnet.com ®

Get 4 Gifts for Filling a survey on Passive Agressive

Google Paper Adwords?

2006-01-18T14:09:00.000+01:00

Sun-Times nets Google ad deal | Crain's Chicago Business: "Sun-Times nets Google ad deal Web behemoth tests classifieds in print Google Inc., the new-media giant, now has a decidedly old-media partner: the Chicago Sun-Times. "

In a quiet and small-scale experiment, Google is running classified-like ads in the pages of the Sun-Times, which so far is the only newspaper participating in the Web-search behemoth's test.

The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, allows Google to fill what's known as 'remnant space' in the Sun-Times — unsold space where the paper would normally run in-house ads. Google fills those spots with its own ads. The Google connection is hardly trumpeted: 'Ads by Google' appears at the top of each box of ads in very small type"

Wow that is a 10 for thinking out of the Box.
Kudos to the google team..
Now how will this be charged?
Keep posted,
JP
PS: relationships review Is now on line.

Common Sense SEO?

2005-12-12T10:11:00.000+01:00

This exelent article Search Engine Journal Google's "Good Writing" Content Filter has a very important lesson:
It does not pay to play against the seach engines.
You have to play with them.

Get this basic tips in place before anything else. SE will love them, and your customers too.

"The top web pages that contained written content (a small but significant portion were image galleries) all shared the following features:

Updating: frequent updating of content, at least once every few weeks, and more often, once a week or more.

Spelling and grammar: few or no errors. No page had more than three misspelled words or four grammatical errors.
Note: spelling and grammar errors were identified by using Microsoft Word's check feature, and then ruling out words marked as misspellings that are either proper names or new words that are simply not in the dictionary. Google almost certainly has better access to new words than the dictionary, with its database of billions of web pages. Supposed grammatical errors that did not in fact violate style rules were also ignored. Google would certainly be less conservative than a grammar checker in evaluating popular stylistic devices such as sentence fragments.

Paragraphs: primarily brief (1-4 sentences). Few or no long blocks of text.

Lists: both bulleted and numbered, form a large part of the text.

Sentence length: mostly brief (10 words or fewer). Medium-length and long sentences are sprinkled throughout the text rather than clumped together.

Contextual relevance: text contains numerous terms related to the keyword, as well as stem variation.

Full article:Search Engine Journal Google's "Good Writing" Content Filter:

Free XMas Gift: "Detect these 7 Alarms before they Hit your Relationships"

People I Read

2005-10-26T09:26:00.000+02:00

Alice Seba has post about reducing the Chaos in your life.

What makes this 9 pages document remarkable, is the way she approaches life as an internet marketer, making little difference between normal daily chores i.e. talking care of the kids and marketing activities like putting up a new site.
All those things have to be done, and they are all sources of stress.

You can read the rest at:
Top Nine Tips for Abandoning the Chaos of the Internet Marketer

Fine-grained treats = user happiness

2005-10-17T14:25:00.000+02:00

What will keep customers coming back for more?

This extract from the Creating passionate users site has some very good sugestions.

How do you treat your customers?

What constitutes a 'treat'? Obviously that depends on who your users are and what their relationship is to you, but here's a random list:

* Easter eggs in your software

* Unexpectedly and uncommonly good customer service or support experiences

* Something unexpected and special in the box your product ships in... (but in order to be unexpected it has to be changed on a regular basis).

* A special feature that doesn't get in the way but says...we were really really really thinking about you here. I'm finding a lot of these in the new Mac OS X Tiger release! (Like 'mail PDF' that lets you go from viewing a web page to mailing it as a PDF email attachment in one step!)

* Sponsoring and supporting user groups with a variety of special treats... everything from study guides and posters to raffle t-shirts and other cool giveaways.

* Special surprises (extra downloads that only customers get, something fun in the mail, etc.) that show up at the user's mail/email unexpectedly. (I always stay for the entire credit roll when I see a film in the theater (unless I hated the movie) out of respect, sure, but also because every once in a while you get an entire new scene (or really fun outtakes) that hap"

Source Creating Passionate Users: Fine-grained treats = user happiness: "Rewards/treats should be both fine-grained and surprising

Le Petit Google Illustré

2005-09-20T16:03:00.000+02:00

Google MyWay - How to search Google efficiently

Another useful document to exercise your search skils.

How did it come that searching become such a big task?
How many times per day we use the search engines to find our way compared to the number of times that we need a roadmap?

Don't you feel that we depend too much on the way the search engines present the net to us?

Thinking about outsourcing?

2005-09-14T11:55:00.000+02:00

If you are thinking about outsourcing, but procrastination keeps you back now you can have access to this excellent resource for free:
Mike Filsaime And Carlos Garcia's Outsource Secrets .
Register for instant access to the recordings and transcripts of this excellent product (a $97 Value).

Juan Pablo Mattenet

FireFox -Skype together

2005-09-13T17:14:00.000+02:00

Wow, this is a great thing for my favorite browser!

Yet another add-on to Mozilla Firefox from Disruptive Innovations... This extension adds to Firefox's toolbar a new button allowing to make Skype(tm) phone calls directly from your favorite browser, in constant sync with your Skype configuration.

This extension, tested only on Windows, is free for personal use only. All rights reserved.

Save this disruptive innovation (Mozilla Firefox, v >= 1.0 needed)
SkyFox

Juan Pablo Mattenet

Goggle AdWords now in CPM flavor.

2005-09-13T09:59:00.000+02:00

It seems that after the last CPC model changes, Google is now promoting the CPM (cost per impression) model.
Whether this is a transition from the CPC model to the CPM model, is still to be seen.

Adwords JenSense.com
One of the new changes for advertisers with site targeting is the ability to now price these campaigns on a CPM basis, pricing model that Danny Sullivan calls a "pseudo-CPM" basis, as opposed to the current CPC model.

The new system will work on a cost-per-impression basis, or CPM. Ads in the new system will compete against ads using CPC bidding, with the CPC price being multiplied against the clickthrough rate of those ads to come up with a pseudo-CPM rate to match against.

Back to School, learning to search

2005-09-09T10:49:00.000+02:00

Every day I spent a lot of time searching for information on the net.
Sometimes, it is really detective work (95% tenacity, 5% Luck).
Now things are getting better, but the rules of the game are changing, and I have to shine my skills.
How did you learn to search? (by Jeremy Zawodny)

In a Quest for Yahoo listing..

2005-09-07T14:57:00.000+02:00

I found this, while doing some research on why Yahoo refuses to list my site http://www.positiveconflicts.com.
It did not answer the question, but at least there is an easy way to check your links.

Ever want a way to quickly check all your .edu backlinks, or backlinks from a specific site? Yahoo! now allows you to do so with the linkdomain command. It is simple, just use the follow syntax linkdomain:www.rustybrick.com inurl:edu to check all your backlinks from .edu sites or linkdomain:www.rustybrick.com site:www.seroundtable.com to find all the backlinks from this site to rustybrick.com. And an other useful feature, is to use the allinanchor to find out who is linking to you with particular keywords, for example linkdomain:www.seroundtable.com allinanchor:blog (doesn't seem to support allinachor after a second look). Outstanding!

I am pretty sure this is new, as is Shawn, who discovered it and posted a thread about this at DigitalPoint Forums. He named the thread Yahoo Allowing Operators With Link Functions. I believe Yahoo! upgraded the command to facilitate the up and coming, Yahoo! Site Explorer product, like they recently did last week with making the link command more accurate. I have not received an official response from Yahoo! about this change, as of yet.

Link Function at Yahoo! Allows for Other Operators

MSN Search Gains New Feed Searching Commands

2005-09-07T14:13:00.000+02:00

MSN Searches RSS Deeper from Robin Good looks at how MSN Search now has two new undocumented feed searching commands, including the ability to full-text search within feeds.

The first command is feed: that allows you to tell MSN Search that you want to search for material just within feeds it has indexed, rather than across web pages and other documents. It's similar to existing filetype commands that let you limit searching to things such as Word documents or PDF files.

How about an example? Try feed:"hurricane katrina", and you'll get a list of feeds that have that exact phrase within them. Look at the first page listed, a feed from the National Hurricane Center. In the cached copy, you'll see that phrase appearing in the feed.

Keep in mind that only text in a feed is indexed, and that may be different from the text in a post referenced in a feed. In other words, some blogs and other sources don't send out the full text of their posts in feeds. In other cases, some people will write custom descriptions so that what's in the feed will be different than what's on the page.

Inspirational speech from Steve Jobs

2005-09-01T14:10:00.000+02:00

I just played the recording of the speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford. And I have to say that although I knew the story of his success until this very moment, I didn't knew the man behind. I can't tell how highly I recommend this speech.

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech Audio Download: "Steve Jobs Speaks"

Help With Hurricane Katrina Relief

2005-09-01T05:55:00.000+02:00

Help With Hurricane Katrina Relief: "Don't You Wish There Was Something YOU Could Do To Help The Thousands Of People Who Lost Everything In Hurricane Katrina?"

The key to our success?

2005-08-31T11:38:00.000+02:00

Is 'Complex Equivalence' Hindering Your Online Success?
Success in Internet Marketing equals to being
completely rooted in the fundamentals and principles
of direct response marketing and being able to
leverage the world wide web as the ultimate low cost
medium to deliver your marketing message on a global
scale?

Google's Sandbox, or how Google chases the bad guys!

2005-08-22T11:45:00.000+02:00

Google Sandbox, long time a secret, dissected.
Read More :2005 Analysis of Google's Sandbox

Under Publishing

2005-08-19T13:54:00.000+02:00

Making books easier to find (for google)

Following the tips from the
Underachievers forum I found this article from google. It is nice to see that they have not stopped this program, even in the face o the potential legal issues involved.

AdWords Changes, Are we all doomed by Google?

2005-08-17T07:19:00.000+02:00

The Adwords we knew and loved is DEAD.
Will the new system be our dead sentence?
The underachievers community has been struggling to make sense of the new system.
But so far, what I see is not good news for anyone except the Big Fish.
Google claims that the secret is your "Quality Score", but this seems to be a secret formula, only known to them.

This is the Google speech:

"About the new simplified keyword states
Sorry we haven't posted for a couple days. If you've logged into your account today, you'll probably see why. We've been really busy preparing for our new simplified keyword states and quality-based minimum bids. We've said farewell to the normal, in trial, on hold, and disabled keyword states, and your keywords will now be either active or inactive, depending on their Quality Score and maximum CPC. Remember, the Quality Score determines the minimum bid for your keywords. If your maximum CPC meets or exceeds this minimum bid, your keyword will be active. As you begin to navigate through this new world of active and inactive keywords, we wanted to point out a few tools that can help improve your account management:"
Inside AdWords:

But there is nothing on the google help system that explains in clear terms how the "Quality Score" is calculated.

Will there be some light at the end of the tunnel?
Or may be is time to change to another system?

Procrastinating , underachievers Habit?

2005-08-16T19:26:00.000+02:00

We are supposed to work smart, not hard, but sometimes a litle help getting things done can help...
How to stop procrastinating - psychological self-help

Do you feel the Pain?

2005-08-16T17:14:00.000+02:00

The story of Click fraud, as seen by INC:

So Many Clicks, So Few Sales

Peek into the future: Lessons from Large Search Marketers

2005-08-15T14:51:00.000+02:00

Eye of the Storm: Lessons from Large Search Marketers: "August 08, 2005
Eye of the Storm: Lessons from Large Search Marketers

Ok welcome everyone to my first installment in the Triple play coverage. I once again want to thank Barry and Ben for letting my join them on this endeavor, and I will do my best to keep the quality of the coverage up to the standards that Search Engine Roundtable readers expect.

Be a Better Marketer or be a better Liar ?

2005-08-09T18:01:00.000+02:00

Fortune has an article by Seth Godin, "Be a better Liar", where it exposes some of the issues while communicating with the others. As underachievers we know how we struggle with the copywriting process, and I think that his article does show how to frame the marketing message to our customers.

"In the beginning, there was the story. Before marketing, before shopping carts, and long before infomercials, people started telling stories to themselves and others. We noticed things. We noticed that the sun rose every morning, and we invented a story about Helios and his chariot. People got sick, and we made up stories about humors and bloodletting and we sent them to the barber to get well."

Read more: Small Business - Be a Better Liar - FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS - Page

Use Google to Find Free eBooks.

2005-08-06T10:46:00.000+02:00

This short sample will show how complex a google query can be.
And be prepared to be amazed with the power of it.
More:Tech-Recipes.com - Use Google to Find Free eBooks (Electronic Books):

Affiliate Marketing training for $1.00, even an Undie like me will say YES

2005-08-06T10:26:00.000+02:00

I'm going to take this offer, and see what is the real value behind..

'Now You Can Join Our Coaching Program and Receive Step By Step Guidance From A Team Of Experts Who will Hold Your Hands The Entire Way...' Start for Just $1.00 "

More: Step By Step Coaching - $1.00

Even if you dont take the program, at the end of the page there is a lint that will take you to a lost a articles on Affiliate Marketing (for free):
Article Directory:

Can you say the same about your projects?

2005-08-05T16:15:00.000+02:00

"Working for a startup company is like a love affair. Your first startup is like your first love. Even after the relationship is over, it has changed you; become a part of you. Eleven years after my first startup I joined Netscape, where I worked from March of 1997 through December of 2002. Netscape taught me that you can have the passion of first love again, and the heartache. What we were will stay a part of me, of all of us, forever."

Read More:MozillaNews Interviews Daniel Glazman, NVu Developer

New Google patent proves "sandbox" exists

2005-08-05T16:12:00.000+02:00

Search-Science: New Google patent proves "sandbox" exists

Interesting topic, Google in their way of fencing their market, have to show some of their cards. But a patent is not really equal to the implementation. Will see what the other search engines have to say.

If you are only using google, you may miss 60% of your market!

2005-08-04T14:36:00.000+02:00

While marketing research, it is important to have a clear view on the competitors. I assumed that google had largest index, and never checked with the other search engines, like yahoo.
Until I read this article and checked the results.
Impressive, I was really missing a lot a things.

more:Derek Franklin's Digital Laboratory: Are You Missing Out On The Best The Web Has To Offer?

European Underachievers?

2005-08-03T20:11:00.000+02:00

Hi,
Ed Dale's underachievers month is over, and now we have to go on our own for a while.

So I decided to start this blog to record my own progress, and may be to federate others undies that are more or less in the GMT +- 1 time zones..

Why?
Just because, the time zones make us very difficult to chat with other undies, and because
there may be market niches to explore in the EU..

Pull Quotes

2005-08-03T11:33:00.000+02:00

Hi,
This is a nice tidbit for the sales letter:
Shareware Marketing � Copywriting: "Using Pull Quotes to Draw Attention
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005

Pull quotes help draw attention to the most important part of the text.

People do not read web pages word by word, they scan the text. It’s important to keep the reader interested.

One of the technics employed by magazines is using pull quotes, small snippets of the article enlarged or set in a different type. Pull quotes draw attention to the most important and the most interesting parts of the text.

This is the CSS code I use:

blockquote.pullquote {
float: right;
width: 200px;
margin: 15px 0px 5px;
padding: 0;
font: 20px/24px georgia, palatino, serif;
color: #333;
text-align: center;
border:0;
}
/*Credit goes to Adam Polselli.*/

Note: Do not forget to provide a style sheet specified for printing that uses the hidden attribute for pull quotes. See Specifying Media-Dependent Style Sheets."