2011 will be the year of… Facebook advertising. Right now it doesn’t work for many companies because people going to Facebook are going to see what their friends are doing while they should be working. Not to buy things. I believe that Facebook can and will change this. It’s their only realistic source of revenue, so they have a good … Read More
Lack of clarity = confusion
After a recent (horrible) virus experience, I’ve taken all reasonable steps to protect my system. I use Google Chrome, and use the excellent NotScripts to protect my web browsing. One of the useful features of NotScripts is that when I get to a website, I have to allow scripts to run, and if I’m not sure about a domain, I … Read More
The world’s most expensive terrestrial broadband?
I just received an interesting email from our (second) broadband provider, with the following information: “100Mbps Internet connections We’ve just connected our first 100Mbps customer to our new Ethernet Direct Leased Line service. This is dedicated fibre delivered direct to the premises. It is aimed primarily at business customers and is the new very cost-effective 21CN alternative to legacy 20CN … Read More
blekko – an interesting alternative to Google?
If you work with Google you most likely enjoy a love-hate relationship with them. You love the traffic they send, but you hate the way they move, rename, camouflage and smoke-screen the goal posts. Yet what choice do you have? There are alternatives, but if you combine all the traffic they might collectively send you each month, you’re still only … Read More
Forms that kill sales – 7 ways to kill your customers
True story – almost live. I just went to buy a useful product – I didn’t need it, but I wanted it. Here’s what happened. I clicked on the buy button, and was told that I had to set up an account. (Hurdle 1) Clicked on the link to do so, and was asked for my name and email address. … Read More
The SoftwarePromotions Interview
Nico Westerdale of Software Marketing Resource, BitsDuJour, Iconico and more has published his interview with yours truly: The SoftwarePromotions Interview Thank-you Nico!
Innovation can cripple your business
Most (but not all) business sectors are driven by the need to innovate. Yet consumers and business are fickle. We want innovative tech devices, but get annoyed when our media streamer isn’t as reliable as our CD player. We want ground breaking features in our new cars, then get annoyed when the electronic seat memory positions can’t be overridden manually. … Read More
Google Analytics is not free
In September 2007 I wrote an article for our Competitive Edge newsletter on What Price Google Analytics. The article generated a fair amount of debate, yet despite the large number of people who were quite vocal with their disagreement, many also agreed. The point of the article wasn’t that Google Analytics is bad. The point was that Google Analytics isn’t … Read More
What should I call my product?
Whether you’re about to launch a new product or are considering renaming an existing one, deciding what to call it often proves to surprisingly difficult. One approach is to name according to what the product does. For instance some of our clients have products like System Mechanic, PDF Annotator and Advanced Outlook Repair. Another approach is to make the name fit … Read More
Website users ignore pointless pictures – how very odd?
From Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox: “Users pay close attention to photos and other images that contain relevant information but ignore fluffy pictures used to “jazz up” Web pages.“ And he can prove it. Like many of Jakob Nielsen’s statements, it sounds absurdly obvious. So why do so many websites get it wrong? How many times have you seen websites using a … Read More
