Demand Media and the New Economy of the Journalist

Demand Media and the New Economy of the Journalist

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Demand Media has been a constant topic of conversation among online journalists of late.  It all began with this article in Wired entitled “The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model“. Plenty of other companies — About.com, Mahalo, Answers.com — have tried to corner the market in arcane online advice. But none has gone about it as aggressively, scientifically, and single-mindedly as Demand. Pieces are not dreamed up by trained editors nor commissioned…

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The Blogs as Aggregator

The Blogs as Aggregator

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Over the past two years, we’ve seen the genie come out of the bag on blogging.  In the good old days if you wanted our content, you came to our blog.  Now, our content is being automatically posted in a bunch of spots, perhaps on Facebook, Google Buzz, Google Reader, and even the headline shows up on Twitter. Then we throw our participation on those other sites in, and now we’re all over the place.  It’s hard for us to…

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Mattel Adds SMDB Barbie

Mattel Adds SMDB Barbie

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Mattel today announced they’ve add “Social Media Douche Bag” to the list of Barbie’s professions.  The new Barbie, which comes complete with it’s own iPhone, iPad and Twitter account will hit store shelves soon. “This career just kind of happened.” notes Mattel product coordinator, Roberta Smith.  “We had a ton of left over ‘Journalist Barbies’ and ‘Dental Hygenist Barbies’ and we had a quick look at where those folks were going when they were laid off, and there it was,…

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The Illusion of Privacy

The Illusion of Privacy

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The launch of Google Buzz this week has once again brought questions of privacy and social networking applications to the forefront.  Just as many of us have questioned over the past few years the repeated failure of Facebook to respect our privacy. To my mind, this is a very simple thing: never post anything to any networking service that you wouldn’t want to see again.  Ever… People have lost jobs over what they have posted on Facebook and elsewhere.  I…

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It’s Truck Day!

It’s Truck Day!

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In honor of the Red Sox Truck Day, here is Truckin’, performed by the Grateful Dead, April 17, 1972 Koncertsal – Copenhagen, Denmark. Truck Day, for you non-baseball fans, is the day when they send the truck off to Florida from Fenway Park in Boston, loaded with all their gear, in preparation for the start of Spring Training.  It started out as an unofficial start to the baseball pre-season for fans, and has blossomed to the point that this year,…

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The Day Social Media Went Mainstream – Google Buzz

The Day Social Media Went Mainstream – Google Buzz

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Google decided that I was ready for Google Buzz this morning, and it magically appeared in my email console.  If you haven’t heard of it, watch this video: On first take, when viewed inside of gmail, Google buzz seems to be a real yawn.  Just another place where you need to update statuses to keep in touch with folks. Exactly what I’ve been warning would become the death of social media, the great diaspora wherein we all end up on…

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Say What You Do For SEO Success

Say What You Do For SEO Success

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Jeff Bennett had a great post yesterday about a shop that had changed their name to take advantage of the customer’s common name for them I said it absolutely made sense and I fully agree.  Indeed from my experiences @ NameMedia this is exactly the way it is.  I learned first hand the power and impact of generic names as we built our media business.  It costs a lot of money and effort to create awareness for nondescript names and brands. …

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Hosting and Web Development

Hosting and Web Development

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Over the years, I’ve noticed that when most people start talking about web development, they immediately throw web hosting into the mix.  “Okay, so you develop in PHP, where do you host?” is often the flow of things. The problem is, your website is YOUR BUSINESS ASSET, not mine.  Hence asking me where I host is the wrong question.  It should be “where do you recommend that we host our site.” That bit was drilled home to me again last…

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Love Your Geek – Print Version Available

Love Your Geek – Print Version Available

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Karl Susman’s book “Love Your Geek” came out on Monday, and he just told me it’s already gone for a second printing.  Excellent news!  You can still get your copy on Amazon in the Kindle format, or order the print verision. You can also join the forums and help Karl come up with topics for his next book by registering here for the LoveYourGeek.com forum. Even better, he’s going to be interviewed on Craig Crossman’s Computer America show tonight at…

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