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Create a Custom Business Website in 13 Minutes and 33 Seconds. Copyright Math: the best TED Talk you'll watch all year. This may just be the best TED Talk video I've seen: listen.com/Rhapsody founder and extremely funny person (and soon-to-be debut science fiction author) Rob Reid examines the math behind the claims made by the copyright lobby and explains the mindbending awesomeness of the sums used to justify SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and the like. Here's Ars Technica's Ken Fisher discussing Reid's philosophy: Reid’s goal was to capture and represent some of the rhetoric from that past decade and a half in a way that would fill the hall with laughter, even if some of it came at the expense of some clearly ridiculous industry arguments. “Everyone can laugh at silly infographics,” Reid opined while silently crushing the serious journalism dreams of hacks everywhere. “And who doesn't want to deface a Leave-it-to-Beaver-like Christmas scene with pirate-and-Santa graffiti?”

The brilliance of Reid’s talk is that he thoroughly skewers the content industry’s dubious appeal to quantitative reasoning. Report this ad. How to Build Profitable Hyperlocal Websites. I’m often asked what kind of sites I’d be building if I wasn’t running Copyblogger Media. Actually, I’m in the process of producing a few new projects, and they are all of the hyperlocal variety.

Hyperlocal websites provide content related to a very limited geographic area, such as a town, neighborhood, or even a single zip code within a city. The content can range from local news and politics, to information about schools, restaurants, and other businesses in the area. There has been much sound and fury about the possibilities of hyperlocal, adding up so far to mostly hype. We’ll get to that in a bit. First, let me frame the way I think about profitable hyperlocal websites, which is generally in sharp contrast to the way many approach them. How to Avoid the Briar Patch of Hyperlocal The most well-known hyperlocal enterprise is Patch Media, a subsidiary of AOL. Patch isn’t very interesting to me as a business, and not just because it reportedly lost $100 million last year. Crowdfunding Law Will Turn the Start-Up World Upside Down - Tim Rowe - Voices. Remember that special moment when we all realized that the Web was going to remake yard sales and auctions, but we didn’t know yet who was going to win?

(And then eBay left the rest in the dust?) Such a moment has come again, and with a choice prize: Investing in start-ups. The House has already passed crowdfunding legislation, by a whopping majority. The president supports it. Senators on both sides of the aisle (Merkley, Bennet, and Brown) have agreed on a version. Entrepreneurs are signing petitions to support it. And there is speculation that the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may push for passage of the House bill as-is. What would this mean? Everybody likes the innovation and jobs that this could propel.

Here’s how this is going to play out: Intermediaries (the future eBays of this space) will spring forward to handle the paperwork, do background checks on issuers (required), ensure that offerings are well described and enforce balanced investment terms. This could be big. Recruiting. OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video. A Marketing Lesson from the Master – John Caples | The Greatest Networker.

Scientific Advertising. What Makes Someone Leave A Website? The Infographic. Insights for Search - Web Search Interest: used truck - Manitoba (Canada), 2004 - present. Using Great Storytelling To Grow Your Business. Every two months, I pull together a community of innovators. We meet somewhere in New York City, usually a boardroom overlooking a park or cityscape. But last month we all found our way into an acting studio operated by The TAI Group to learn about storytelling. The members of this group certainly already know something about the topic. They are senior executives at some of the largest corporations, partners in some of the most prestigious consulting and private equity firms, and several cutting-edge entrepreneurs. But the more you know, the more you realize there is to learn, and this group wanted to learn more about how to use effective storytelling to drive change in and grow their organizations.

The experience shocked me, to be honest. 1) Use lots of LOTS. 2) Build on your story spine. Not convinced? Reality introduced: A dark room is filled with 20 executives and entrepreneurs resting on chairs in rows facing two director chairs. [Image: Flickr user saipal] Building Customer Loyalty Through Social Media. How Much Does Social Media Cost Companies in 2012?

UPDATE: If you would like to see the newest version of my Social Media Marketing Rate Sheet, please Click Here. Two years ago I wrote a post entitled So How Much Will a Social Media Strategy Cost, which was designed to give businesses and organizations an idea of how much they should expect to pay consultants and agencies for basic social media marketing services. As you might expect, that post was insanely popular, so I followed it up with How Much Does Social Media Cost Companies in 2011 last year, and now this year those prices are being updated again with this post. For all three, these prices are taken from published rates found online, as well as what other agencies and consultants have told me they charge for these services. In general, both posts in 2010 and 2011 were designed to give companies basic price information around the most common services, such as setup and execution of a blog, Twitter and Facebook page, as well as basic Social Media Training.

Now, on with the prices. Accurate Time Tracking Software | Time Doctor. Premium WordPress Themes, Web Templates, Mobile Themes. Blog - WhereToLive.com - Winning Real Estate Solutions. Home of the $300 Website | Professional Website Design Vancouver. 7 Big Marketing Lessons Learned From Tim Ferriss. This week I was fortunate to have author/blogger Tim Ferriss on RISE (in case you missed it, here is the interview with him). To say Tim is an interesting character would be a massive understatement. Just a few years ago (in 2006), nobody knew who Tim was (except probably his parents and a few others). Fast forward to now: He is the international best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek (#1 New York Times Bestseller, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller, #1 BusinessWeek Bestseller). Wow. How did Tim do all of this in such a short period of time?

I don’t think so. Tim Ferriss is one of my favorite examples of someone who has marketed and promoted by being smarter, faster, cheaper as opposed to dumber, slower, expensive. And this is something you can do as well (in your own way). So, how did he do it? #1: Marketing Around Your Product Tim’s product he was looking to spread was a book. The answer? Instead of promoting “just the book” Tim promoted a larger idea: Lifestyle Design. Nope. Not anymore. Why Monitor Website and Server Uptime with BinaryCanary.com - FREE Website Monitoring. Social Media Management, Twitter Tools, Social CRM | Sprout Social.

Empowered. KLM Live Reply. KLM Surprise. Burberry uses salesforce.com to create the ultimate Social Enterprise. Marc Benioff's Oracle Open World Keynote. Gatorade Mission Control. The Internet Advertising Awards - IAC Winners. Idea Database. HARO - Help a Reporter Out ™ I Will Never Hire a “Social Media Expert,” and Neither Should You 

I WILL NEVER HIRE A "SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT," AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU2 years ago I was going to call this article “All “Social Media Experts” need to go die in a fire,” but I figured I should be nicer than that. But my title stands. If you call yourself a “Social Media Expert,” don’t even bother sending me your resume. No business in the world should want a “Social Media Expert” on their team. They shouldn’t want a guru, rock-star, or savant, either. If you have a “Social Media Expert” on your payroll, you’re wasting your money. Being an expert in Social Media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator. Social Media is just another facet of marketing and customer service.

Bunny ©jimbenton.com We’re making the same mistakes that we made during the dotcom era, where everyone thought that just adding the term .com to your corporate logo made you instantly credible. Ready for the ultimate kicker? “It’s not about building a website anymore! It’s About Transparency. Lessons in Link Building: Diversify Your Portfolio | The Results People. If you’ve arrived here via organic search looking for stock tips – you’re definitely in the wrong place. That’s some relevancy algorithm you’ve got there, Mr. Gekko. Regardless, there are several similarities between the grinds of link building and the monotony of day trading that quickly “jump” to mind. Neither are ever easy when done well. I suppose you could say that about anything.Both make folks a lot of money without ever having to leave the comfort of their home office.Neither are especially good for your tan.Both benefit from creativity, caution and diversification.Both can cause mental anguish to the point you’re tempted to leap out the window like it’s October 29, 1929.

I’m well aware that last bullet is in bad taste… so apologies right out of the window gate. Gurus, Ninjas and Warlocks, Oh My! Including the word “Lesson” in the title of this post may seem a little pretentious. Creativity is Crucial If it seems lazy or low-quality, it is. Shortlink: (click to copy) How to Charge for Social Media Services. Know your value! I've been through it myself. For New Social Media Managers starting out in the industry it can be difficult to work out how to price your services. OK, the industry isn't as established as SEO yet, but how much are companies willing to pay for Search Engine Optimisation?

Some of the SEO companies I work with won't even look at a new client unless they have a minimum of 3 grand. But the tables are turning in 2012... Now is the time for Social Media Agencies and Freelance SM Managers. 1. Simply by offering nicely packed services in "Basic", "Standard" and "Premium" Packages makes it easy for the less decisive client but the main advantage is that you keep your service fixed to a particular set of activities. 2. This is a favourite of the businesses that are brand new to Social Media. 3. A great proportion of clients want bespoke services. Once you have the right info, you can knock their socks off with a killer proposal and really build some value into it. 4. Connect: Baseball and the Social Experience: Why You’re Willing to Pay $7 for a Beer and What Businesses Can Learn. Today is opening day of baseball season, and everyone (including Susan) is just a little fired up. I happen to have a lot of Red Sox fans in my Facebook feed, and before I even had my coffee this morning, there was already a little friendly East Coast rivalry occurring (well, actually, the Yankees assaults started days ago).

[It's the duty of every American to hate the Yankees. --Susan] Baseball season got us thinking here in the writers’ department about the social aspects of baseball games. Why are people willing to pay seven bucks for a mediocre beer and five dollars for a hot dog at the game, when they could get a six-pack and whole package of dogs at the grocery store for half the price and watch it at home? The answer is the community and the experience. In a 2010 article on what makes fans crazy about sports, data shows that devotion to a team, socializing, community, bonding and sense of belonging are among top motivators for baseball fans to engage in the sport. It’s work.