data

What is the point of your website?

chrishambly — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:58:34 -0400

Go ahead and use html when you make a comment, put the link to your site in, using your favoured keywords, and then state in one sentence only, the point of your website. If you have more than one website use additional comment entries.

My website does not use the no follow tag, so you gain Google Juice.

Reach An Audience With Email

chrishambly — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:55:35 -0400

I have a long history of publishing e-newsletters and an even greater belief in the reach-ability of them. When I consider some of my larger e-mail lists and the associated click-through statistics it becomes crystal clear that they work, period.

The thing is about email is that it is still one of the best communication technologies around for broadcasting news, your updates appear into peoples' in-box, there is no effort on the part of the target at all, and let's face it we are lazy, we forgot sites, we often can't be bothered to go chasing up the news.

Some say what about RSS feeds and feed readers? I say that the majority demographic there is for Geeks and Nerds, for people who are like me and work on the Internet. I also say that my sister and the girl next door are not that type of person, in fact the majority of Internet users are not feed readers, and it is the majority I am interested in typically, it is they I predominately wish to reach.

Newsletter systems can also bring about an important personal connection, or personalisation, unlike an RSS feed from let's say a Blog, which is just generic albeit with many Bloggers liking to use the term "YOU", to give a sense of connection. But you can go deeper than than, a newsletter sign-up form can contain personal data which can then be inserted into an authored newsletter, which gives the communication a far more personal flavour.

This personal touch is powerful, in my experience it has proven to aid considerably in building up credibility (which does take time), and it also aids in giving the reader a sense of inclusion, being part of the "club" if you will.

Some people do not like email targeting and selling, and I say to them they are fools basking in a non-existent demographic, in an minute fish-pond of supposed "friends". If you genuinely have something to sell you cannot expect people to come looking for it, you need to push it in front of their noses, and not just once, but repeatedly.

If you'd like to see how I use a few key personalisation matches try the following Social Media Mafia form, you'll be sent an email and asked to "opt-in" and then you'll receive the first instalment which is pre-written, but will contain some of your personal entries. Don't worry I'm not selling things on this particular list ;)

Get the Newsletter!
Email:
Name:
Country:
City:
Gender:
Url:
Mafia Nickname:

Android a Spy In Your Pocket

chrishambly — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:01:28 -0500

So when Android, the open source mobile phone platform becomes the “normal”, you know, widely distributed, and of course I imagine it will, we will soon be carrying a cute little personalised Google spy in our pockets!

Hang on a minute, you what?

Ok think about this for a sec. Google Android is open source, it is an operating system, the thing which will make your phone work. Currently there are a variety of operating systems in use for mobile phones and depending on which provider you are signed up with will depend on how much access you have to “tweak” the that operating system.

Open Source

Yes Android is open source meaning the code is available for anyone to look at, therefore anyone can develop applications for. You know, all these widgets will appear, widgets like you see in your Facebook account? Well not exactly I predict many more useful applications will be available.

Personalised Info

Already your phone is capable of sending a signal back to HQ (where ever the HQ application is) stating “hey I am currently here at these coordinates”. Of course where this becomes particularly interesting is when your shopping habits and destinations are “learnt” by these new “lifestyle widgets”, yes folks when the crafty marketing peeps dip their toes in this, it will be game on.

Let’s say you often enjoy a morning pastry at the local Starbucks. Starbucks sign up with the application data service which sends the application server new information about offers they may have on at any point. You walk close to Starbucks and the suddenly “beep beep” you receive a text stating “Starbucks special offer half-price pastries today”.

Life Style Widgets

I’m going to go out on a limb and name these cute data mining packages Life Style Widgets. Do I mind this, will it bother me I can be profiled and offered various different products based on my geographic reference AND passed buying habits? Not at all, I’m really looking forward to the messages I’ll get when I walk passed a lap-dancing bar!

Seriously though folks it is coming, are you going to embrace that, or develop for it?

You Android you!

FACEBOOK: Federal Human Data Mining Program

chrishambly — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:38:02 -0400

So today I had a business lunch in the centre of London with a friend of mine, Mike. We are both what you might call “eager beavers” when it comes to using new technology and might even go so far as to call ourselves new-media operators and thinkers.

Certainly today we were operating and discussing new-media technologies, for example we created an audio interview which will become available on the internet through an RSS feed along with being streamed somewhere at some point. We then went on to discuss online social networking tools one of which being the current big-gun Facebook.

Mike was asking if I had seen the footage concerning data-mining and the connection of some of the venture capital funds for the company, and I hadn’t. He then forwarded me the link to the YouTube video below.

So, personally I must say if this is true, so what?

Every time I place something about me on a site, a blog, a forum, I’m accepting that it could be used in some way for other data purposes, and more than likely it is, is that something I should care about, is that just the way the modern world works?

As a disclaimer, I’ve not personally researched the story behind the video, nor will I, as I’m not bothered, isn't it the point that I'm sharing I'm an atheist, or I'm straight, or I am male, or I like music, with everyone?

I’ll continue to use Facebook.

What’s your take on it?

data

What is the point of your website?

Reach An Audience With Email

Get the Newsletter!

Android a Spy In Your Pocket

FACEBOOK: Federal Human Data Mining Program