Latest News from Web 2.0 Journal

Twitter & Facebook Get a Buzz Cut

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:15:00 EST

Reportedly unable to buy Twitter last summer, Google got Twitter-ized Tuesday. It has integrated a self-affirming, “I tweet therefore I am,” so-called babble-style capability smacking a lot of Facebook and Twitter into Gmail so users can share media and status updates with a connected circle of their friends – and the web, if they choose, where it will be indexed and searchable.

Location-Enabled Social Media

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:15:00 EST

GyPSii , the market-leading mobile digital lifestyle application and geo-mobility social media platform, and Telmap, the mobile search, mapping and navigation pioneers, jointly announced today a partnership to develop and introduce advanced location-based social networking as part of Telmap’s Mobile Location Companion. As part of the cooperation, Telmap will introduce social networking and user-generated content, to the Telmap5 Mobile Location Companion using GyPSii’s Open API, OpenExperience™. Telmap5 will offer users access to all their networks of friends across social networks including Facebook and Twitter. The integration with GyPSii’s Open API empowers Telmap5 mobile users to connect the real world with the digital world: accessing and contributing location-aware content, sharing locations, reading and posting recommendations, videos, pictures, finding friends, events, and places, geo-blogging, and more—all in one app.

CyberMedia CEO Pradeep Gupta Innovates, Pushes the Envelope

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:45:00 EST

CyberMedia is headquartered in Gurgaon in the National Capital Region centered around New Delhi in northern India. The company has additional offices throughout India, in Singapore, and in three subsidiary locations in the US.

JetBlue CIO Shows Creative Side to IT

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:00:00 EST

JetBlue flew 2.11 billion revenue passenger miles last month, compared to 1.93 billion in January 2008, such growth is encouraging, but the company warns of growing costs throughout 2010. Its apparent due to aircraft maintenance, the volatile fuel market, and the need for greener travel, the aviation industry has a turbulent future ahead and cuts are inevitable across the board. So when in a room with JetBlue’s CIO, the question begs to be asked (and it is one that we have all faced). How do you secure your departments budget in times of cut backs?

Google to Join the Babble Crowd: WSJ

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST

Reportedly unable to just buy Twitter last summer, Google is going Twitteresque. According the Wall Street Journal, Gmail will be adding a self-affirming, pointless babble, “I tweet therefore I am” capability in the style of Facebook and Twitter to its skills so users can share media and status updates with a connected circle of their friends.

How To Travel Using Vacation Rentals

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:45:00 EST

With a first-ever TV commercial highlighting vacation rentals having aired in Sunday's big game, football fans are discovering why renting vacation homes, condos, villas and cabins on trips is a favorite choice for many versus hotels. Beyond the experiences families and friends build by staying in a home away from home, there are numerous benefits to choosing vacation rentals - sometimes in ways they'd least expect, says Vacation Rental Managers Association. Many travelers will be trying vacation rentals for the first time post-game, while nearly nine in 10 who were satisfied with their first experiences plan to rent again(1). Industry "head coach" and expert Alex Risser, President of the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA), offers the following vacation rental planning tips and insights as a postseason wrap-up:

Using Social Media in Your Business: Strategic or Tactical?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST

Before you start using various social media channels, you should define an overall strategy, independent of specific social media channels. Implementation and use of such social media (Twitter, Facebook. etc.)is often tactical but in support of your strategy. [...]

Learn to Listen and Engage

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:00:00 EST

We asked Ian Lurie "What are key marketing trends and predictions for 2010? What actions should marketers take in 2010?"
Ian Lurie is chief internet marketing strategist at Portent Interactive. He is also the author of Conversation Marketing: Internet Marketing Strategies.

Ian Lurie

Blog Conversation Marketing Twitter portentint

"Twitter is a vast-self answering community. It’s also the ultimate search engine."

Ian Lurie's Marketing Prediction for 2010

Twitter is going to overtake Yahoo! and Bing for search market share. Yeah, you hear me: Search market share. As Twitter's user base grows, more and more folks go there to ask questions, and get answers. It's a vast, self-answering community. Search the community, find your answers. More and more users are figuring that out, and Twitter search is gaining popularity as THE place for current answers to all kinds of questions, from "what's a good place to eat on 1st Avenue?" to "How do I fix a bug in Windows 7?"

Ian Lurie's Marketing Action for 2010

Marketers need to learn to listen and engage. That means doing more than paying those verbs lip service. You must look at Twitter and similar communities as more than another spam vehicle. Learn to truly get to know your customers, understand when they need help, and then deliver it to them. News that you 'get it' will spread beyond your own small circle of customers and friends to the community at large, and you'll start getting results.

Recommended Resources

Over to you...

Get 2010 started on the right foot with a bit of inspiration and no-nonsense marketing straight-talk from 38 other B2B marketers, e-mail marketers and social media gurus. Click and download FREE eBook from Marketo and ClickDocuments

Related Blog Posts

2010 Content Marketing Trends and Predictions

Local Business Listings, Consumer Reviews, and PR

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST

Local business listings have evolved to be an excellent marketing tool for the local business and small business dependent upon the local consumer for revenue. Most allow the local consumer to post their experience about your business, products and services without your knowledge or involvement. These local consumer postings have an affect on a business website ranking position. The business will need to start paying attention to these local business listings sooner rather than later.

Twisten Carefully

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:58:00 EST

We don't have to listen to all the noise - we get to choose who and what we Follow. We naturally UnFollow the people who don't match our tastes. We search, use #hashtags, download TweetDeck or Seismic, create friend streams or lists. We filter the stream to meet our own personal needs...not to hear everything that's said. Saying Twitter has little great info is like saying television has nothing but sports and reality TV. There's so much more out there! We just have to click through the 5000 satellite channels to find the great learning and entertainment.

#TwitterJamBand to Perform Benefit Concert Live

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST

Over the last six months, a group of social media musicians in San Antonio have been playing music together under the name, #TwitterJamBand. It's really been a way to get friends together, jam and just have some fun. In the process, the band is being noticed by the media, world-wide. As the band and the get-togethers progressed, they decided to combine social media with social good by holding what they believe to be the first live, streaming benefit concert during the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 7 (the band is not associated with the NFL).

Real Estate Market Continues to Show Improvement

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST

The real estate market continues to show improvement as mortgage rates remain at historic lows and consumers respond to the tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) just announced that its Pending Home Sales Index rose 1 percent from November.

Marilyn Moux Launches "Bergen County Real Estate" News Topic on Ulitzer

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:45:00 EST

Marilyn Moux launched on Friday "Bergen County New Jersey Real Estate News" topic on Ulitzer. Marilyn is a licensed real estate broker associate with Weichert Realtors, in Ramsey, New Jersey. She can be reached at mmoux (at) weichert.com or by phone ta 201 446-1402. Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 884,118, growing to 904,037 as of the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack. Bergen County ranks 8th among the highest-income counties in the United States in 2006 in terms of per-capita income.

Retail Vacancy Rate in Northern New Jersey Climbed to 6.6%

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:00 EST

With the rash of recent retailer bankruptcies and downsizings adding to an inventory that included unclaimed spaces from earlier failures, the vacancy factor in retail properties along northern New Jersey's six major shopping corridors jumped to 6.6% during 2008 from 3.6% a year earlier, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co., Inc. Routes 4 and 23 were the only roadways to show an improvement from 2007. While the six-county region remains one of the most vibrant retail markets in the nation, the firm warned that it could take several years for the vacancy factor to get back to customary levels. In its nineteenth annual study of the northern New Jersey market, the Old Bridge, N.J.-based retail real estate brokerage found 1.84 million square feet of vacancies in the 27.96 million square feet of space studied along the six corridors, with availabilities seen in 118 of the 808 properties evaluated. By contrast, the firm's 2007 study reported 1.01 million square feet of vacancies in 27.58 million square feet of space. Over the prior 10 years, the region's rate had stayed in a narrow range of 2.0% in 2002 to 3.6% in 2007.

ClickPredictions: Engage Better on Social Media

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:00:00 EST

We asked Michael Stelzner "What are key marketing trends and predictions for 2010? What actions should marketers take in 2010?"

Michael Stelzner is author of the book Writing White Papers, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com and an organizer of summits such as Social Media Success Summit and Copywriting Success Summit.

Michael Stelzner

Blog WritingWhitePapers Twitter Mike_Stelzner

"Social media strategies will be as commonplace as using a fax machine—every business will need to be in the game."

Michael Stelzner's Marketing Prediction for 2010

Social media marketing will become a mainstream method for businesses to connect directly with customers and prospects. Leveraging social media marketing strategies will be as commonplace as using a fax machine-every business will need to be in the game. Facebook users will top 450 million.

Sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook will announce strategic partnerships with search engines that will bring real-time social media actives to the masses. Services will emerge that greatly simplify the management and monitoring of global social media activities.

We will move from a discussion of "Which tools should I use" to a discussion of "How can I better engage with my customers, wherever they are."

Talking about mobile consumers will become an oxymoron as all consumers will have mobile access to data, opening up the social media marketing floodgates.

Google will announce a series of new services that will give Facebook a run for its money. Early movers are sure to become unstoppable forces. Hold on to your hat, it's gonna be a wild ride!

Win a copy of Michael Stelzner's book Writing White Papers

To enter this giveaway, just use this precrafted tweet or include the link to this post or this page with '#CLICKPRIZE'. Include @clickdocuments and @Mike_Stelzner in your tweet.

Recommended Resources

Over to you...

Related Blog Posts

2010 Content Marketing Trends and Predictions

Advisolocity Social Media Report

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:56:00 EST

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s slightly relaxed oversight standard for interactive blogging in the money management world means tweets are here to stay, according to John Drachman, writer and creative director for The Drachman Group, Inc., and Advisolocity, a social media forum for advisors. “This is something to cheer about,” [...]

The iPad As The Door Opener for Bring Your Own Computer " BYOC "

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:45:00 EST

Beyond the hype the of the iPad by Apple lovers and the nay sayers who say "who needs it " the iPad is likely to impact company IT practice more than anticipated. For many CIO's and IT Directors there is a growing interest in minimizing the expense and support of endpoint devices. Many companies have taken the fist step to allow access to company apps from unmanaged home PC's utilizing Application and/or Desktop Virtualization, however very few have taken the leap to allow employees to really bring there own computer to work ( BYOC ).

DrupalCon 2010 Coming to San Francisco in April

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:45:00 EST

Marking its first appearance in San Francisco, Calif., DrupalCon 2010 will take place April 19-21, 2010 at the Moscone Center. DrupalCon is the premier conference for Drupal, the award-winning open source content management framework that is galvanizing social publishing and web development today. Session proposals will be accepted through February 15. The Drupal social publishing system has been downloaded over 2 million times since its inception, and project growth has doubled annually for several years. Drupal is used to deliver a wide variety of application types including single or multi-user blogs, wikis, community networks, digital media portals, and web content publishing and management.

The Top Five Objections to Corporate Blogging - and How to Overcome Them

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:18:00 EST

So we talk about blogging a lot around here. And why not - I mean after all Marketing Trenches IS a blog so it does make a whole lot of sense. We’ve also found that our blog is one of the best, and probably THE best, tools for our business. Yet despite that ringing endorsement, [...]

CMS + eCommerce = Marriage Made in Heaven

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:15:00 EST

KonaKart (e-commerce) and dotCMS (web content management) have announced plans to release java based CMS-driven e-commerce plug-ins and tool sets they are developing together. This Java-based, Enterprise-quality solution combines best-of-breed e-commerce and web content management.

You Don’t Need a Social Media Superhero

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST

“I hear you guys are the social media gurus in this area. Can you help us blow out our efforts on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?” These were seemingly innocent words from a prospective client, spoken just last week. As we dug a bit deeper, the red flags started flying. He wants help with social media only, and wants to address only those three properties. He doesn’t want us to worry about how the website, blog, search, email or other areas might impact social media. He is concerned about tracking the effort, but his tracking and measurement will focus on volume of followers, friends and connections.

I’m Basically A Whore

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:05:00 EST

These words remain very clear in my mind, but they were shocking to me (as they probably are to you) the first time I heard them. In fact, when the man made this statement to me, it took me so far aback, that he had to repeat them. “I’m basically a whore,” he says sheepishly and with regret in his voice. Of course I said, “What to you mean?” The man who made this statement was the Michigan based marketing head of a money management firm headquartered in Connecticut. He was responsible for bringing new money into the firm for investment. He didn’t manage any money, he just bird dogged it. He made his living off of inducing people to do business with the money manager. I was his new protégé – that lasted almost six months.

Not Just Words: Enforce Your Email and Web Acceptable Usage Policies

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST

Unmanaged employee use of email and the web can subject any organization to costly risks including litigation, regulatory investigations and public embarrassment. Responsible organizations should deploy clearly written Acceptable Usage Policies (AUPs) for email and web usage, supported by employee training and enforced by proven technology solutions. This whitepaper can serve as business guide on how to develop and enforce Email and Web AUPs. All employers need to understand that unmanaged personal email and web usage has a negative effect on productivity and heightens the organization’s risk. Download this guide and learn how to quickly implement an effective AUP in your workplace.

Email Archiving: a Business-Critical Application

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Today’s businesses are especially vulnerable to accidental email loss, compliance demands, and the threat of e-discovery. Yet these same companies often have the fewest resources for combating these risks on their own. Many businesses today are turning to email archiving services to eliminate losses. Additional benefits of professional email archiving services include greater employee productivity, less need to rely on company storage servers, and increased protection. Email archiving also protects email 24X7 with enterprise-level backup and support. Data is secured at multiple sites and restoring archived email happens quickly and does not require IT professionals. For most businesses, costs are significantly lower and data is more secure compared to companies that choose to run and maintain in-house archiving software solutions.

iPad on Ulitzer - How To Jump On the iPad Buzz

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:45:00 EST

There were two kinds of technology companies issuing press releases today. Goofball ones that were somehow oblivious to Apple's planned announcement, and thought it was just another day and their stuff would get the usual attention. And those who watched the announcement of the iPad and realized there was excitement to leverage, and put together their own announcement. Now just about anyone in digital signage making an announcement that somehow tied in to the iPad would be regarded with giggles, but Nanonation is one of only a few companies in the space that actually have some genuine Apple ties, history and chops, so to speak.

Genetic Cloud: Cloud Computing Is For Everyone Every Day

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:55:00 EST

Complex optimization tasks, like travelling salesman problem, can be solved by simple algorithms with random searching component. Genetic algorithm is one of such approaches. It gives better solution on the big population sizes, but the execution time grows non-linear with population size growth. Another way to increase accuracy is to have several parallel runs. The additional resources for parallel runs could be taken in a Cloud.

EMC to Present at Cloud Expo

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:45:00 EST

There are new solutions to the challenges in today's desktop operational environments and opportunities for IT to enable the enterprise knowledge worker by reducing time-to-market and lowering TCO. In his session at the 5th International Cloud Expo, Scott Burgess, Director of the America's East Region for EMC Global Services, Microsoft Practice, will discuss the outlook on IT's evolving role in today's service-aligned cloud-based delivery models.

Advisolocity To Offer Turnkey Social Media Solution

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

Distribution media consultant D. Bruce Johnston announced this week the March 1 launch of a new strategic, creative service dedicated to thought leadership messaging strategies for advisors in transition. “First: It’s about each advisor, their vision and the clients they serve. It’s about building conviction and consensus around their story,” Mr. Johnston noted. “Second: It’s about speed to [...]

Primitive Is the New Advanced

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:30:00 EST

Mark Twain was credited with saying, "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." People figured out long ago that a letter with fewer words, though more powerful, was more difficult to write. It seems technologists only now are beginning to learn that lesson.

Four Common Sense Social Media Tips for PR and Marketing Pros

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:30:00 EST

"The wisdom’s in the room. Make a concerted effort to learn from those around you," said Butch Ward from Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL, as he spoke with a crowd of public relations professionals at the January 2010 Social Media Café. Butch and three fellow experts shared new ways of including social media tactics in our public relations practices.

The Cloud and the Fourth Amendment

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:45:00 EST

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. Basically, it says that law enforcement needs a court-ordered warrant – provided there’s probably cause – to make a search. Today, one of the biggest questions for enterprises considering moving data to the cloud is, under the Fourth Amendment, what kind of data protection they’re entitled to when in the hands of a third party. Now, however, there’s a new legal opinion of the application of the Fourth to the cloud. cnet has taken a look and reports that it’s not only right on the mark but that the courts sorely need to adopt it in deciding cases arising from cloud data privacy issues.

Google Hackers Reportedly Spied on Social Networks

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:15:00 EST

The Chinese hackers that targeted Google, Adobe and 30 other companies spied on their employees and learned who their friends were through social networking sites. Then they appropriated the friends’ identities and that’s how they got the unsuspecting employees to open the e-mail that opened the back doors into their corporate networks for the hackers, according to the Financial Times. Of course we already know that the folks they targeted were the ones with access to proprietary data.

How to Build an Interactive Marketing All-Star Team

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Some call it interactive marketing. Others call it digital marketing. Still others use internet marketing, web marketing or online marketing. Frankly, the terminology doesn’t matter. What matters is that companies need to and want to address this function, and are becoming more and more open to exploring the different ways of doing it. Occasionally we get a request from a company that has already decided that they’d like to build this function up in-house, using primarily employees as opposed to agencies, consultants and contractors. The company typically has plenty of reasons for this approach, and while we often present scenarios that represent an alternative option, we do that to help the client arrive at the right decision for the organization. After all, we call ourselves Right Source Marketing. We recognize that there are many ways to build a gameplan, and our concern is finding the right gameplan for each individual company.

iPad on Ulitzer - What a Letdown!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:45:00 EST

WOW. What a letdown. I can not believe that this was the subject of endless hype. Here are the quick stats (if you haven’t found them somewhere else). A4 1GHz Processor 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599), or 64GB ($699) Flash Memory WI-FI enabled, 3G for $129.99 iPhone OS 4 20 Pin Apple Interface 1024×768 Capacitive Touchscreen Alleged 10 hour battery (with WiFi or [...] Related posts:

iPad on Ulitzer - What Your Business Can Learn From the iPad

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:30:00 EST

While most of us — regardless of the industry in which we work — would give just about anything to receive the publicity for a product launch that Apple receives, there are a couple of points we should observe that may assist us in every aspect of our business. 1) Critics are everywhere. Many of the early reviews of the iPad are negative…and they’re coming from people who have yet to use the product! Don’t forget…the iPhone generated a similar response! (I’ve heard it’s not doing too ...

ClickInsights: Social Media Marketing in 2010

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:30:00 EST

How will social media marketing evolve in 2010?

We have invited 2 Social Media Icons - Pam Brossman and Chris Garrett - to shed light on the following question: "What do you foresee as the biggest change that will happen in social media marketing in 2010? How should marketers and businesses adapt to this change?". Read on to get their insights.

Chris Garrett

Blog ChrisG Twitter chrisgarrett

"Just having "cares" in your Twitter name is not enough"

Chris Garrett's Bio

Chris Garrett is an internet consultant, writer, web geek and co-author of the popular ProBlogger Book. Since 1994, Chris has helped thousands of individuals, non-profits, small businesses and blue chips make the most of the web.

Chris Garrett's Tip

I have never been very good with predicting the future so I am sure other people will have better and more accurate answers! That said, the biggest changes I see in social media are evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

More businesses will embrace social media as the case studies and proven ROI cases surface. Many businesses are holding back from social because they do not want to risk their budgets and reputation, but will feel forced by industry and consumer pressure to get involved if only from a customer service and PR standpoint.

Social media roles will increase due to this business pressure, which means the job market for people with marketable skills will improve, but also there will be a bigger market for the snake oil types to exploit. As a knock on effect, social media training will be in demand.

On a consumer level I think mobile has finally become a crucial element and the old days of WAP can be put behind us. With more emphasis on local, geo, and portability the "iPhone effect" can now be truly felt and will increase in the new decade.

How Will Businesses adapt to this change?
Businesses will need to be savvy about their strategy and who they recruit to help them with it, because there is a wild west mentality but with real brands and reputations at stake. Also companies need to avoid the "veneer of openness" that is starting to emerge, where the impression of customer service and authenticity is created, without backing up the promises with action. Just having "cares" in your Twitter name and talking to people does not make the service you provide work better and consumers are starting to realize this and talk about it in numbers. Your brand is ultimately at the mercy of the people who are supposed to deliver your product, all the conversation in the world will not change that.

Pam Brossman

Blog Profitable Social Marketing Twitter pambrossman

“Use more visual & auditory media in your marketing and start hanging out where your target market is.”

Pam Brossman's Bio

After 25 years in the Corporate Communications industry, Pam has taken her visual communication and marketing skills plus her passion for video marketing to teach people the power of video marketing and ‘You Branding’ using digital mediums. Pam recently completed her International Social Media Accreditation with ISMA and is passionate about helping women create their own brand and market their business effectively online.

Pam Brossman's Tip

I forsee more ‘personal branding’ and use of digital marketing plus, I also believe a lot more women are going to start driving the direction of social media. Why? Because women are natural networkers and absolutely love the web 2.0 environment where they can connect, engage, communicate, assist and build strong networks of likeminded people for whatever reason.

Social media will continue to grow more strategically as people learn how to utilize the different platforms for their personal and business needs.

Personal Branding Personal branding to me is all about standing out in the crowd and sharing your message. We all have a message that can make the difference in someone’s life and social media has given more people the opportunity to have a voice and actually be heard. Personal branding is about deciding what it is you want to represent and getting out there and ‘SHINING’ in that niche. Mark Eldridge of ISMA refers to it as being seen as the ‘obvious expert’ which is the perfect name for it. Examples of people who are effectively using personal branding to become the obvious expert in their niche is Gary Vaynerchuk Wine Guru and Branding Expert, Mari Smith Social Media and Facebook Expert, Alexis Neely Family Law, Carrie Wilkerson – WAHM, Ali Brown Women Entrepreneurs …there are so many people using their personal brand to get their message and make a difference and it is very powerful.

Digital Marketing Includes marketing using the senses and I believe that visual and audio are going to grow massively in 2010. Stats have shown how people are wanting to receive and absorb their information and video and audio seem to be shining through. That is not to say the written word will become obsolete but I believe there will be a huge shift and increase in the popularity and creation of visual information products, visual marketing products, online niche TV shows, video advertising, video interviewing, and multi-purposing of one media into several different forms of content for use on many social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, FriendFeed, Itunes, Twitter, blogs, websites and many more. Very exciting times ahead!

How Will Businesses adapt to this change?
If you are an entrepreneur than I strongly suggest creating a ‘You Branding’ marketing strategy and start thinking about how you want to be seen as the ‘obvious expert’ for your niche and what mediums are going to best market your expertise so that you can stand out in the crowd.

For Businesses, I strongly suggest using much more visual and auditory media in their communication, marketing and product range in 2010 and beyond and start hanging out where their target market is. Social media is not a fad and for those who thought it was, you have a lot of catching up to do.

I will close my suggestions with:

Buy a video camera
Start sharing your knowledge using multiple digital mediums
Get your domain name, .tv, .com. Youtube Channel url, facebook url, fanpage url, twitter url, blog url
Get some professional photos done and start creating your own personal brand

There has never been a better time to shine as an individual…..stand out in 2010 it is going to be a great year!

Citizen Journalists Have Global Platform for Video News Reports

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:43:00 EST

MaYoMo was one of the first news sources to provide raw video footage of the Haiti earthquake and is increasingly becoming a credible global news source – especially in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. They have a large network of citizen journalists who share dramatic moments from places like Iraq, Pakistan, and the Iranian protests. They have also had videos uploaded from Mumbai showing police after the terrorist attack and a recent terrorist attack in Afghanistan.

Xiotech Fuels the “Apple Effect” in New Consumer Media Development

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:34:00 EST

In the wake of Apple’s latest computing revolution, we announced today that our patented Intelligent Storage Element (ISE) technology has unlocked significant new capabilities in video and audio editing and production, in support of high-compute environments within Macintosh computers from Apple Computer, Inc. Users are now able to do the following from a single ISE unit:

Social Media Marketing for Service Providers

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:24:00 EST

Elyse Tager shares her view on how businesses are using social media as an opportunity to get closer to customers. In this video with Cisco’s Zoya Fallah, Elyse discusses social media marketing techniques that can be used for business to business and business to consumer.

Leveraging Technology & Social Media to Impact Military Wellness

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:46:00 EST

Meeting people who work in a variety of organizations and industries is quite enlightening. Interestingly, no matter their field or nature of their organization, I hear fairly consistent themes regarding technology adoption. This is particulary true as it pertains to wellness. I lectured at the Symposium for the Army's MWR leadership in Louisville, KY on January 26, 2010. The fine people at the American Logistics Association and their representatives Bob Ellis and Chris Rottner sponsored the lecture. You can view content in the slide show below.

Leveraging Technology & Social Media to Impact Military Community Wellness & Quality of Life

View more presentations from Bryan ORourke.

My talk on technology and social media adoption and its potential impact on the health of military personnel and their families led to a series of conversations with the rank and file of the Army's MWR community. No matter the venue, there exists a great opportunity to educate leadership on how solutions like cloud computing, social media, and wellness technologies can be adopted to positively impact the missions of organizations at much lower cost than extant methods. While the rapid pace of change happenning today makes adoption a challenge, we've got to do a better job of unleashing the potential solutions offer to solve important problems. That is why the symposium was such a great event. Watch this video. As John Chambers of Cisco points out, organizations can change how they fundamentally work to become more productive.

The ALA also sponsored Dr. James Sallis, who spoke on environmental considerations relating to wellness. His talk was very interesting and pointed out important facts regarding how simple changes in the manner which communities are designed can have a meaingful and lasting impact on wellness. Great work and worth a review.

My thanks to the men and women of our armed services and the leadership of the ALA and MWR. I particulary thank my father, who recently passed away , for being the stellar military officer and distinguished pilot and academy graduate he was. He would have enjoyed attending the symposium and meeting the fine and dedicated professionals I had the privledge to address.

Vodafone CIO Speaks Up for Process Reform

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Change isn't new, but the pace of change in the next ten years in Europe is going to be breathtaking. Following 18 months full of dramatic re-alignment we're seeing normality return, but it's a new normal. The balance of power is shifting away from Europe and the West; emerging markets are becoming leading markets. For Growth to really take hold there must be room to improve.

Why Are Linked-In and Twitter SO...SMALL?!

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:50:00 EST

There isn't one person that I know that doesn't have a Facebook account. I decline friend requests daily from people such as ex-girlfriend's fathers, old professors that flunked me, and even an old boss from when I was 16. EVERYONE is on it. It is almost common practice to look at someone cross-eyed if they say they are not on Facebook.

Why Back Up Google Docs To Windows Azure Storage?

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:30:00 EST

If I have documents sitting in a cloud storage such as Google Docs, why do I need to back it up to a different cloud storage such as Azure Storage? Maybe because I need the peace of mind that I can access it the moment I need to. Or in some countries, access to one may be blocked such as in China for Google Docs and Google Picasa. Or maybe some days, one may go down as part of the cloud computing growing pain. Anyway, it is a good practice to back up. This article will show you how to backup your Google Docs files on a daily basis to another cloud storage.

Financial Applications on the Cloud

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:45:00 EST

QuickBooks is well known among small businesses used in managing their finances. Microsoft and Intuit are targeting small businesses by integrating their Cloud Platforms. Microsoft will offer its Cloud Platform Windows Azure SDK so that developers can author applications to run Intuit's financial software. Intuit has named 'Windows Azure" as its "preferred platform" for applications developed on the Intuit Partner Platform. No friends, no enemies, only eternal interests ($$$$).

Cloud Balancing, Reverse Cloud Bursting, and Staying PCI-Compliant

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:30:00 EST

One of the concerns with cloud bursting specifically for the use of addressing seasonal scaling needs is that cloud computing environments are not necessarily PCI-friendly. But there may be a solution that allows the application to maintain its PCI-compliance and still make use of cloud computing environments for seasonal scaling efficiency.

Cloud bursting, a.k.a. overdraft protection, is a great concept but in some situations, such as those involving PCI-compliance, it can be difficult if not impossible to actually implement. The financial advantages to cloud bursting for organizations requiring additional capacity on only a seasonal basis are well understood, but the regulatory issues that surround such implementations hinder adoption of this method to address cost-effective capacity increases when necessarily only for short periods of time.

But what if we architected a solution based on cloud bursting that offers the same type of advantages without compromising compliance with regulations and guidelines like PCI-DSS?

REVERSE CLOUD BURSTING and CLOUD BALANCING

The ability to implement such an architecture would require that the PCI-compliant portions of a web application are separated (somehow, perhaps as SOA services or independently accessible RESTful services) from the rest of the application.

The non-PCI related portions of the application are cloned and deployed in a cloud environment. The PCI-related portions stay right where they are. As the PCI related portions are likely less heavily stressed even by seasonal spikes in demand, it is assumed that the available corporate compute resources will suffice to maintain availability during a spike, mainly because the PCI compliant resources have at their disposal all local resources. It is also possible –and likely – that the PCI-related portions of the application will not consume all available corporate compute resources, which means there is some capacity available to essentially reverse cloud burst into the corporate resources if necessary.

In a very simple scenario, the global server load balancer basically “reverses” the priority of data centers when answering queries during the time period in which you expect to see spikes. So all application requests are directed to the cloud computing provider’s instance first except for queries that require the PCI-compliant portion, which are always directed to the corporate (cloud computing perhaps) instance. This is basically a “cloud balancing” scenario: distributing application requests intelligently between two cloud computing environments.

The variations on this theme can become more complex and factor in many more variables. For example, you could set a threshold of capacity on the corporate data center instance that allows enough corporate compute resources available to handle the highest expected transaction rate and only burst into the cloud if the corporate capacity reaches that level. That’s traditional “cloud bursting.” You could also reverse the burst by dipping into corporate compute resources based on thresholds designated at the cloud computing provider’s instance to minimize the financial impact of utilizing a cloud computing provider as the primary delivery mechanism for the application. That would be “reverse cloud bursting.” The key is to ensure that no matter where the compute resources are coming from for the primary application components it does not negatively impact the availability and performance of the PCI-compliant processes executing in the corporate cloud environment.

THE KEY IS FLEXIBILITY IN ARCHITECTURE

Without the flexibility to deploy individual components of an application (a.k.a. services) into different environments these scenarios simply don’t work. Applications developed based on tightly-coupled frameworks and principles will never truly be capable of taking advantage of cloud balancing, bursting, or any architecture that relies upon specific components residing in a specific location because of regulatory issues or other concerns.

This is one of the core principles of SOA – separation of not only interface from implementation, but location-agnosticism. There are many ways to achieve this kind of location-agnosticism including on-demand generation of WSDL for client consumption that specifies end-point location based on the context of the initial request and the use of global server load balancing combined with context-aware application delivery. What’s vitally important, though, is the flexibility of the underlying application architecture and the ability to separate components in a way that makes it possible to distribute across multiple locations in the first place.

If that means SOA is the answer, then SOA is the answer. If that means a well-designed set of RESTful components, so be it. Whatever is going to fit into your organizational development and architectural practices is the right answer, as long as the answer includes “location agnosticism” and loosely-coupled applications. Once you’ve got that down the possibilities for how to leverage external and internal cloud computing environments is limited only by your imagination and, as always, your budget.

Related blogs & articles:

Technorati Tags: MacVittie,F5,SOA,REST,architecture,infrastructure 2.0,load balancing,application delivery,PCI,cloud balancing,cloud bursting,intercloud,context-aware

Cloud Start-up Pulls in $8m A Round

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:30:00 EST

Nasuni, a Massachusetts start-up that’s about to trot out a gateway to cloud storage, has gotten $8 million in Series A funding from North Bridge Venture Partners and Sigma Partners. Nasuni founders CEO Andres Rodriguez, an ex-CTO of the New York Times, and Robert Mason pioneered a cloud storage architecture at Archivas, which Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) acquired in 2007 for $120 million.

Personal Branding on Ulitzer and Conan O'Brien

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:30:00 EST

Classy. Conan O’Brien’s final evening with NBC he spoke directly to the audience sharing with them that on this last night he could speak in whatever manner he wanted to about the network with no ramifications. After the last show,...

Content Marketing Strategies on Ulitzer

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Continuing its robust growth throughout the global recession, content marketing spending is again slated to grow in 2010, according to the annual Junta42 content marketing survey. The majority of marketing professionals polled in the survey plan to increase their spending on content marketing initiatives in 2010 and are planning to allocate an all-time high of 33% of their overall budget to such efforts. Only 7% of participants predicted they would spend less this year than in 2009.

ClickInsights: Biggest Roadblock to Converting Marketing Leads

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST

One of the goals of marketing is to generate leads. What is the next logical step once you have managed to get high quality leads? Yes, getting those leads into the sale pipeline.

We have invited B2B Experts to shed light on the following question: "What is the biggest roadblock to converting marketing leads into the sales pipeline? How do marketers overcome this roadblock?". Read on to get their insights.

Ardath Albee

Blog Marketing Interactions Twitter Ardath421

"Don't focus on short-term campaigns"

Ardath Albee's Bio

Ardath Albee is a B2B Marketing Strategist. Her company Marketing Interactions helps companies with complex sales and quantify marketing effectiveness by using interactive e-marketing strategies driven by compelling content. She empowers her clients to create customer-centric nurturing programs that leverage strategic story development to engage prospects until they are sales ready. Ardath’s book, eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale is now shipping!

Ardath Albee's Tip

Short Termism
B2B marketing programs tend to focus on short-term campaigns designed to achieve company goals without regard to prospects’ needs and timelines. Part of this is due to the budget structure that allocates funding based on financial quarters. But, it’s also the company’s need for instant gratification. Salespeople need leads—right now. So marketing tries to feed the pipe. They may find some success by stumbling across prospects who are ready, but they tend to overlook the potential of those who aren’t.

If your company’s sales cycle is 9 months and you run 3-month campaigns—switching focus along with a change in quarter—you’re leaving most of your prospects hanging. The message you send them is that your marketing efforts are really all about you, not them. This gives them incentive to look elsewhere for more information on the topic you abandoned in mid-stream. Research showing that 79% of leads never become opportunities backs up the premise that our marketing efforts aren’t creating the best results across the long term.

If marketers want to overcome this roadblock, they need to create programs to match their prospects’ needs at every stage of the buying process. The mindset shift is that marketing isn’t a series of campaigns but rather an ongoing, consistent process that educates prospects about what they need to know; showcases your company’s expertise to add value to the product offering; and proves that what you say is true.

Consider adding progressive measures across your marketing initiatives that show momentum in addition to the number of qualified leads being sent to sales. Once you achieve the tipping point, you’ll find that it’s an easier proposition to build on that momentum for a continuous stream of prospects who become sales ready.

Ardath Albee Recommends

Seamus Walsh

Blog B2BContentMarketing Twitter SeamusWalsh

"Disconnect between sales and marketing"

Seamus Walsh's Bio

Seamus Walsh founded VAZT Global Inc. in January 2008. Seamus' passion for sales, sales process and excellence enabled him to develop a platform that "finds, cares and feeds" prospects until they are ready to buy. Prior to forming VAZT, Seamus worked in sales and strategic account management for The Hackett Group, a strategic advisory and management consulting firm in Atlanta, For Gartner, a research, advisory and consulting company in Stamford, CT and Cambridge Technology Partners, a web development company, prior to its acquisition by Novell. Seamus resides in Essex Junction, VT with his wife and four children.

Seamus Walsh's Tip

The biggest roadblock is having a disconnect between sales and marketing. Marketing collects information from companies expressing interest in a product or service and typically sends this "lead" onto sales. If the lead is not what sales considers to be qualified, or if marketing has a history of sending poor leads to sales, sales will not follow-up (or will follow-up half-heartedly) so the leads will not end up in the pipeline. This problem is exacerbated if marketing's goals are based on quantity of leads without metrics factoring in quality of leads.

Marketing can overcome this roadblock several ways:

Make sure that incentives align to desired behavior and that goals are understood and accepted across the executive suite. If the company's goal is for marketing to produce more leads that end up in the sales pipeline, then metrics and bonuses should be established for targets and progress tracked towards the achievement of those targets.
Develop a common taxonomy and understanding between sales and marketing, defining what is meant by "lead," "qualified lead," "pipeline status," etc.
If sales has a standard sales process or methodology, make sure that marketing understands the process and participates in any formal sale training if at all possible. Marketing cannot help sales if they don't understand the specific criteria for sales' success and the obstacles faced across the sales cycle.
Develop and implement marketing programs at the account-based (or segment-based) level. The more personalized or account specific the marketing messages and programs are, the more likely that generated leads will be from potential (or "qualified") buyers. At the very least, get input from respected sales agents and managers when developing marketing programs designed to generate leads.

Seamus Walsh Recommends

Recommended Resources from B2B Marketing Experts

Blogs

Books

Others

Mapping Content to the Buying Process - Slidecast

Google's Chris Schalk to Present at World's Largest Cloud Computing Event

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:30:00 EST

How does one build Python and Java apps (with an emphasis on Java) and deploy them to the cloud? In his session at the 5th International Cloud Expo, Chris Schalk, Developer Advocate at Google, will provide detailed technical information on this and offer a general overview of Google App Engine technology and how it serves as a platform as a service.

Latest News from Web 2.0 Journal

Twitter & Facebook Get a Buzz Cut

Location-Enabled Social Media

CyberMedia CEO Pradeep Gupta Innovates, Pushes the Envelope

JetBlue CIO Shows Creative Side to IT

Google to Join the Babble Crowd: WSJ

How To Travel Using Vacation Rentals

Using Social Media in Your Business: Strategic or Tactical?

Learn to Listen and Engage

Ian Lurie

Recommended Resources

Local Business Listings, Consumer Reviews, and PR

Twisten Carefully

#TwitterJamBand to Perform Benefit Concert Live

Real Estate Market Continues to Show Improvement

Marilyn Moux Launches "Bergen County Real Estate" News Topic on Ulitzer

Retail Vacancy Rate in Northern New Jersey Climbed to 6.6%

ClickPredictions: Engage Better on Social Media

Michael Stelzner

Recommended Resources

Advisolocity Social Media Report

The iPad As The Door Opener for Bring Your Own Computer " BYOC "

DrupalCon 2010 Coming to San Francisco in April

The Top Five Objections to Corporate Blogging - and How to Overcome Them

CMS + eCommerce = Marriage Made in Heaven

You Don’t Need a Social Media Superhero

I’m Basically A Whore

Not Just Words: Enforce Your Email and Web Acceptable Usage Policies

Email Archiving: a Business-Critical Application

iPad on Ulitzer - How To Jump On the iPad Buzz

Genetic Cloud: Cloud Computing Is For Everyone Every Day

EMC to Present at Cloud Expo

Advisolocity To Offer Turnkey Social Media Solution

Primitive Is the New Advanced

Four Common Sense Social Media Tips for PR and Marketing Pros

The Cloud and the Fourth Amendment

Google Hackers Reportedly Spied on Social Networks

How to Build an Interactive Marketing All-Star Team

iPad on Ulitzer - What a Letdown!

iPad on Ulitzer - What Your Business Can Learn From the iPad

ClickInsights: Social Media Marketing in 2010

Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett's Bio

Chris Garrett's Tip

Pam Brossman

Pam Brossman's Bio

Pam Brossman's Tip

Citizen Journalists Have Global Platform for Video News Reports

Xiotech Fuels the “Apple Effect” in New Consumer Media Development

Social Media Marketing for Service Providers

Leveraging Technology & Social Media to Impact Military Wellness

Vodafone CIO Speaks Up for Process Reform

Why Are Linked-In and Twitter SO...SMALL?!

Why Back Up Google Docs To Windows Azure Storage?

Financial Applications on the Cloud

Cloud Balancing, Reverse Cloud Bursting, and Staying PCI-Compliant

Cloud Start-up Pulls in $8m A Round

Personal Branding on Ulitzer and Conan O'Brien

Content Marketing Strategies on Ulitzer

ClickInsights: Biggest Roadblock to Converting Marketing Leads

Ardath Albee

Ardath Albee's Bio

Ardath Albee's Tip

Ardath Albee Recommends

Seamus Walsh

Seamus Walsh's Bio

Seamus Walsh's Tip

Seamus Walsh Recommends

Recommended Resources from B2B Marketing Experts

Related Articles

Google's Chris Schalk to Present at World's Largest Cloud Computing Event