Management Consultants for Web Strategy and E-Business Development, CRM, SEO, SEM, Paid Inclusion, Social Media, Marketing - Lars Hilse » RSS

B2B market and Web 2.0?

Lars Hilse — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:03:27 +0000

B2B is an exceptionally interesting factor for Web 2.0.

Let’s just move away from the my favorite, the mass collaboration aspect, here for a short while.

Web 2.0 is also about making frequently changing information available in formats that are recognized by a number of systems. I’m addressing compatibility here. So what about defining a standard which will comply to RSS is some way and make constantly changing pricing information of a wholesaler available to his retailers around the globe? I’m not going to start the discussion about email newsletters, ok?

That being said: the next thing we shoud focus upon is the documentation and making this available in a format that is widely recognized and safe and compatible for future systems. How often have you searched the web for something, finally found it and it turned out to be 5 years old? Systems like Wikis or other systems automatically supply the date the article was created or last edited. This way ensuring not only the significance of the information you are looking for but also the topicallity.

There are about one kazillion more features which make Web 2.0 B2B-ready. It’s just that the companies have to have some time to adapt to the new technology. I’m trying my best to make that happen faster

References:
Ecademy
Live Spaces
Live Journal

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Do clients actually read HTML or hard copy newsletters? What is their preferred method of agency/client communications for updates etc?

Lars Hilse — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:47:22 +0000

No, they hardly do. The problem is that everyone gets so many newsletters a day, that it’s hell of a job just reading the important ones. And if they just happen to be more sophisticated than just reading text and associated downloading large graphics etc., 99,9% land in my trashcan.

My personal favorites are RSS feeds. I can subscribe and unsubscribe instantly with the push of a button. And then of course there is the freedom. I do not have to rely on a third party system, the feeds get delivered to a third party system and I do not have to care about anything landing in my inbox that does not belong there.

Of course, there are those which perceive newsletters as the favorite method of communication. But this number is rapidly declining.

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Any new widgets/ideas on how to overcome failed email marketing due to spam filters?

Lars Hilse — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:42:44 +0000

This has turned into a serious problem in the close past. Do you think your customers are ready for RSS? This would be the simplest solution to your problem.

If you can move them more and more into the direction of RSS you will most likely end up having an even more successful readership than you have now.

Email marketing has been constantly declining since RSS came up. It’s a shame to see so many people complaining about their inboxes being constantly swamped with SPAM. But it’s those same people who do not look for alternatives and neglect the fact that RSS would be the solution.

Bottom line: try to educate your users with – for instance – a promotional video and try to drive them more and more into the direction of RSS. For instance with the example of Google reader.

I’d be interested in how they accept the new technology.

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If you have a blog (hosted on typepad for example) and have the blog feeding into your web-site w/i a frame, does google & other web-sites count the blog as your web-site content?

Lars Hilse — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:23:02 +0000

a clear yes and no
If you have hosted blog solution google and co will not count the content as something that belongs to your website. YET! the content you submit there will be ranked higher because the blogs you write on will usually have a kick a** pagerank which – if you place links back to your website – you/your website will benefit from.
That being said: using a blog inside your website is interesting also. Reason being, that you provide your thoughts and insights on your corporate ID, etc. NOTE:! If you pull your feed into your website do not do it with frames because SEs will not index the content properly. Instead, use script to import the RSS feed, reformat it to fit your websites layout and then have it displayed there.

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Blog or Newsletter or Both?

Lars Hilse — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:00:23 +0000

Although the number of newsletter subscribers is globally declining I would still not consider NLs to be obsolete as they are the usual way for the “elderly” to get their information. RSS in blogs is still taken as geek-toy sort of thing and has not yet convinced the general public.
What you can do is take wordpress, integrate it seemlessly into your corporate presentation on the web and offer the blog articles to be subscribed to via email. I am just on a project where we have utilized that technology and are about to go live. I am keen to see what the result will be.
With these modules you can either send every post via email as soon as it’s published or you can kick out a digest weekly. This way you will not fill up people’s inboxes with too much stuff.
Combining the two will really save some time on the publishers end.
If you need more help please feel free to contact me.

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Journalism, your business, and RSS? Journalism, your business, and RSS!

Lars Hilse — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:09:08 +0000

There is no doubt about it… RSS (real simple syndication) is today’s way to keep yourself up to date on current issues. While the subscribers of newsletters are dropping dramatically by the hour, millions of people are discovering the power of this “stay-alert-magic-box”. And I use this ingenious invention myself to keep up to date about several blogs and news sources I’m subscribed to!

But what makes this technology so powerful? Especially in context of the symbiosis between the press and businesses?

The Value For A Journalist/The Press

in today’s connected world one is forced to be up to date. Especially if your job is at stake. And as a Journalist you have to be on the wire – constantly.

So, can RSS help you achieve that? YES, it can!

Even most of today’s mobile phones have RSS-readers, or so called “feed readers” on them, so that you can subscribe to important/relevant news sources, press centers of corporations (advanced corporations and those companies I’ve consulted will have an RSS broadcast dedicated solely for press releases) and alike.

If you need training or consulting on how to utilize this technology to be more successful in your journalistic career or want to improve the reaction time of your news desk please feel free to consult me.

As A Business Getting The Word Out Is Sometimes Easier Than You Assume

Like mentioned to the journalists and people of the press above every business – and be they however small – need to learn (sometimes with bitter tears) that they’re doing a bad job in public relations. Most of the business owners or PR personell will be thinking:”we’ve got a blog… what else are we supposed to do to inform the press besides the faxes we send to the press agencies?”

And WHY is the press not subscribing to the feed or your blog? Because it’s not intended for them! Your blog’s mission is to inform your customers and the public about things that are on your mind… news about your company… special offers for your customers! And NO MORE! than that. And while it does a good job on that there is so much journalistically irrelevant information on there, you’ll most likely not have one single person from the press on the wire!

Furthermore, if you publish press releases on your corporate blog you’ll more than likely scare off readers because they don’t care what you say to the press.

Bottom line: create a dedicated feed in which you will announce press- or investor relevant information. Thus making sure that the two channels we have discovered are clearly apart from each other! If you need help or consulting on setting up a dedicated press feed (along with the do’s and dont’s of what goes in there) please feel free to contact me anytime.

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