What’s In A Name? Web 2.0 Domain Naming Disasters
The NYTimes nails it, talking about all these new made-up 2.0 names… These are all actual Web sites that have hit the Web in the last year or so: Doostang. Wufoo. Bliin. Thoof. Bebo. Meebo. Meemo. Kudit. Raketu. Etelos. Iyogi. Oyogi. Qoop. Fark. Kijiji. Zixxo. Zoogmo. These startups think that these names will stick in our minds because they’re so offbeat, but they’re wrong. Actually, all those twentysomething entrepreneurs are ensuring that we won’t... Read More »
Tell Me Why You Like Seesmic
I’m writing my monthly “Innovations” piece for Revenue Magazine about new hot video tool called Seesmic. Do you use it? Tell me why it’s the next best thing? Don’t use it yet? I’m also open to hearing from you either by contacting me or leaving a comment below.. I might just quote you in the article. Thanks! Updates! These are videos direct from Seesmic, updated as they come in. Read More →
Why I Fired Billionaire Mark Cuban & What Hollywood Doesn’t Understand About Marketing 2.0
It was an extremely tough decision to write this. I mean, who wants to cheese off a billionaire? And frankly, I’m worried that many will read this and take it as me trying to create link-bait, or whatever. I have to have full-disclosure; I have a history of baiting Mr. Cuban. So take that in stride when you read this blog post. However, that bait actually did bring about my ability to work out a testing deal with him (which you will read about below), so I suppose... Read More »
Pownce Made Me Appreciate Twitter
I’m being totally honest. I was not a huge Twitter user until I started playing with Pownce. But here’s what happened. Once I started playing around in Pownce, I realized that while Pownce was more visually appealing to me, Twitter just brought the goods. The simplicity of the solution, and the fact that I had already made the investment of adding a bunch of my core “friends” in, was enough to convince me that Twitter was in fact better for me. In... Read More »
How Do You Find A Book Agent To Help You Sell A Book?
I’m ready to publish the book that’s been in my head for the past few years. Now I just need an agent to help me sell it to a publisher. Anyone got an agent that they recommend? Ping me if so. jim@jimkukral.com. Or, if you’re a book agent interested in a book about the future of online marketing and web 2.0, find me yourself so I can tell you more. Why go the agent route? Because I’m a busy guy and I don’t have time to pitch directly to publishers,... Read More »
Internet & Web 2.0 Overload, Is Anyone Else Feeling It?
It takes a lot to overload me. I constantly have 10 projects going of my own, plus consulting work, and my own blogs that I write like this one, and other blogs I write on, and I’m constantly reading/looking for new tools/resources related to my industry. Whew. And somehow I manage all of this without my head exploding. But something has changed in the last month or so. There just seems like there’s… more now? It feels like someone accelerated the Internet... Read More »
What Is Social Search & Why Does It Matter?
Searchengineland nails “what is social search” with a piece today entitled ‘The Impending Social Search Inflection Point‘. This is probably the best piece on this topic I have read yet. A bit technical and high-level, yet still very readable for the masses. I admit I had to read it twice, heh. A few highlights I pulled out below. According to Jupiter, 41.2 percent of users report that general search results are often not directly relevant to queries,... Read More »
New BUMPzee Community Launched Today: How To Be Successful Online
You all know how much I love BUMPzee! Well, I love it even more now that I was chosen as one of the select few to manage my very own community while it’s still in beta. So what community did I make? Introducing the ‘How To Be Successful Online’ BUMPzee Community Bookmark this: http://www.bumpzee.com/onlinesuccess/ What is the community all about? The How To Be Successful Online community is for anyone who is interested in learning how to be successful on... Read More »
Does Your Widget Or Web 2.0 Application Solve Problems?
Today I was part of a panel on Web 2.0 over the ecomXpo, moderated by Shawn Collins, and including me, Scott Jangro and Sam Harrelson. It was entitled ‘Web 2.0: Views from the Thought Shapers’. Pretty cool panel. We discussed a list of about 43 web 2.0 websites and widgets and gave our thoughts on each. Shawn has a list of the sites on his blog here. Beyond just talking about those sites listed and some widgets, I specifically wanted to make one major point, which... Read More »
ZEfrank’s Last ‘The Show’ Today
I gotta tell you, I’m a bit weepy after watching his last show today. Why? Well, I’m a sucker for sappy music and slow-motion montages, plus, you know, ZE is THAT good. It sucks this run is over. You can watch ZE’s first show one year ago here. My only solace is that I can be sure of meeting ZE in person and seeing him speak at the Affiliate Summit this summer in Miami. Bring it ZE, I know you will. Thanks for the content and follow through, you have... Read More »
How To Download & Steal Raw YouTube Video Files In 3 Easy Steps
Yep, it’s pretty easy, and I’ll show you how below. But first know something. I think this is wrong, and I hope that it can be stopped. If you’re not fully aware of copyright issues, you should know that stealing content (video or otherwise) is an offense, and stealing someone’s video out of YouTube is probably going to get you sued quick. Don’t do it. Step 1 To Stealing YouTube Videos The first thing you do is visit a site called KissYouTube.com.... Read More »
Video Search Results Making Their Way Into Major Search Engines
Take a look at one of the results for “kukral” over at Icerocket.com, which is a blog search engine. What will you see? You’ll see a video result, with direct links back to “kukral” tagged video in YouTube. (By the way, Technorati is doing this as well for tags already.) I predict Google will begin posting similar results for regular searches by mid-Summer 2007. Tell me why they wouldn’t. They own YouTube, and this is the natural progression... Read More »
Online Video Lighting Tips To Help You Produce High-Quality Online Videos
If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve been harping on online video for quite some time now. Well, I’ve actually done more than just talk about it, I’ve taken the plunge off the high dive and worked very hard to create video content over the past month or so. I’m here to tell you one thing. If you’re going to do video production, you gotta get the lighting right. Case in point, here are two examples of videos of me talking on a white... Read More »
Online Marketing Idea: Keep The Conversations Alive On Non-Blog Content
What if you have a blog, and a website? I know, it sounds so archaic, believe me, I know. But even blogging geeks like me still sometimes have “non-blog” pages as part of their blogs, or, have pages that were created years and years ago before the blog ate the main part of the site. The problem with those old pages is that they aren’t interactive without comments, right? It’s foolish to not attempt to keep the conversation alive, even on old non-blog... Read More »
How To Manipulate The Media & Get Free Publicity With Creative Marketing Ideas
Got 10 bucks, an hour of time and a creative idea? Because that’s all it really takes to get all the media publicity and exposure you or your business could ask for, all for almost free. Don’t believe it? I can prove it. This is a story about how I did it, why I did it and the results I got from it. You can do it too. What, you don’t like free publicity for little work? I know you do, read on. The Setup I live in Cleveland, Ohio, and I’m a die-hard... Read More »
Why Are More People Making Money Online?
Matt at Netbusinessblog.com posted a detailed analysis today entitled ‘Making a Living Online - All the Cool Kids are Doing it‘. I’ve been noticing a lot of extra activity in the web business world over the last year. At first I thought it might just be because the few sites I visit were marketing themselves better or that the internet was just becoming more popular altogether. After a little bit of looking at recent traffic trends, I think it just boils... Read More »
MyBlogLog Teeters On The Uncool Ledge, Will They Fall?
It doesn’t take much to become “uncool”. I’m telling you, one minute you can be the Fonz, and the next minute they catch you picking your nose and the Fonz becomes the dweeb. ‘Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!, Nerd!’ I’ve got a message for the crew at MyBlogLog. In case you missed the drama, here’s a recap over at Techmeme. Summary: Shoemoney has been messing with security flaws in MyBlogLog and posting about them. MyBlogLog... Read More »
5 Reasons Why BumpZee Will Be The Next Digg, But Even Bigger
Digg may have been the best “user driven social content website” out there, but not anymore. BumpZee, a new, innovative and unique community/tool built by Scott Jangro, is better than Digg, on may levels. In fact, BumpZee might be better than Digg, Techmeme, MyBlogLog and many others, combined. Don’t believe it? Here’s 5 reasons why BumpZee is better, and why BumpZee will blaze a trail as a pioneer of successful web 2.0 mashups. Note: BumpZee is currently... Read More »
Cleveland Internet & Marketing Gurus Know How To Deliver The Goods
You know, I always thought I was the only Internet marketing geek here in Cleveland. Not true, over the past year or so I’ve begun to find out that many talented Cleveland people are also pushing the envelope of web technology and creative marketing ideas. Here’s mashup of a few finds just from this week alone. Cleveland’s own recruiting/HR blogging expert, Joel Cheeseman has just been featured in the Wall Street Journal. “I can work in my pajamas... Read More »
Best New Web 2.0 Company Ever! Useless Account!
Ok, I don’t think it’s as funny as my CompleteRipoff.com, but it’s pretty darn funny. Get an account at UselessAccount.com. Via Techcrunch. The trick to any good humor or hoax site is an attention to detail and a seriousness about your work. Useless Account is the best recent example I’ve seen. It’s clear, for example, that more work has gone into this joke than many of the startups we see every day. The site has a single function - to create... Read More »
