RyanJin.me

As more and more websites fill our browser histories and/or fan pages on Facebook, a looming question for some becomes apparently obvious. How do I create the mass amount of content needed to stay ahead of my competitors? I suppose this kind of questions isn’t really suitable for some people who only ‘microblog’ or have some sort of physical or service oriented product. (Although I could be wrong)

When social media gurus talk, a lot of times, they speak to content. It’s like a runway for an airplane… without it, you can’t take off.. or land back on earth, but then again, without the airplane, you wouldn’t get anywhere in the first place. If only we could apparate or use floo powder.

So while content is important, how are some websites like Examiner.com, or Gawker.com coming up with up to the minute stories and articles? 6 words… It’s like open source magazine publishing. In all actuality, it’s basically what many people today think of as ‘Community Blogs’.  With a few exceptions. Remember About.com?

The content on About.com is surprisingly decent for how diverse the articles and information is. From fixing a grand piano to cooking Thai food, to learning PHP… you can basically learn or read about anything from About.com. The reason you remember it so well (or are still finding it pop up in your search results today) is because that content is intertwined with all the other content on the site. In other words… it was like the Wikipedia of it’s day.. but without the ability to freely write whatever you want. Instead of opening the editor to just anyone and their dog, they decided to ‘hire’ what are called Guides. As Wikipedia explains:

Guides are compensated with a base stipend plus bonuses for increased traffic; according to About.com, several guides are averaging over $100,000 per year, although the exact number is not disclosed.

To learn more about how Guides are paid or even how to become one.. check out About.com’s Be A Guide section.

So why is this important? – As social media becomes even more and more important to people, businesses, and organizations, the whole ‘Content is King’ deal… really becomes a forefront issue.

So should I or Jim at Jim’s Tri-Coutny Electrical Repair build our own content platforms and hire hundreds of high schoolers to write about different things? Of course not! That’s not my point. What is my point is.. these platforms exist FOR you, not BY you. If you think you’re an expert at plumbing in Phoenix, check out Examiner.com and see if you can add your own input or even publish your own works to the community. You never know exactly what you’ll find.

For those of you who ARE in the content business…

Well I think we all know it really isn’t a one person job. Try the model out sometime if you’re interested… I bet you’ll be surprised by how much more ’stuff’ you are able to put out there then when it was just you in your cubicle at work -_-.

Peace.

With the recent turn of events for Andrea and I, we’ve often discussed and pondered the idea of how public to take our exciting news. Yesterday, after finding out our little bundle of joy would be a little boy, we decided, “to heck with it… let’s tell Facebook“.

Although we were originally against it, we decided to take up the social network to essentially make easy work out of what would have been a timely task. So whats the big deal?

When you have friends on Facebook… better yet, a lot of friends, a certain thing happens that Facebook really has helped fuel. The return to old friendships. Although depending on who you ask, this might not be so evident with others. Why? Just look at the sentiment revolving around social networks right now. They aren’t conducive to real physical relationships… they help foster them… but that’s it.

When I joined Facebook.. in December of 2004, there were approximately 1 million active users (www.insidefacebook.com). Let me repeat that statistic for you… 1 million active users! With over 350 million registered users on the network today, it seems like forever ago when you had to have a college email address to even join.. let alone an email address from a college that was in their database.

So what am I getting at?

As more and more people find my profile on Facebook, I am continuously reminded of all the friends I have, have had in the past, or just simply family members I have yet to meet in the future. But although I might not talk to you, I am able to communicate with you. Doesn’t that make you think that high school reunions in the future won’t be as awkward as they were 10 years ago? Maybe not, but it makes a difference when you already know whether or not someone has a baby or even a spouse

On the other side of this story is the growing popularity of the commercial ideal for Facebook. Ask yourself this question… do you have friends on Facebook who you’ve never met in person? If so, about how many? For me, there is 1 person on my Friend List that I have never personally met. If that seems weird to you, then you and I are obviously using Facebook for two different reasons! – Back to my point…

So when I say I’m telling Facebook something, better yet… when you tell Facebook something, who do you think is reading it? Your networks? Your groups? Old friends? Who knows… But just remember… when you do meet that old high school classmate from 10 years ago… know that there’s a good chance they know more about your professional life (and of course, social life) then you may think. I’m constantly watching you… whether you like it or not!

And yes, we are having a boy!

Peace.

P.S. Check out www.insidefacebook.com for more cool info or visit Facebook’s Timeline

If you’ve been floating around the internet lately, especially those social networks that shan’t be named, you might have seen some posts that start with the ever so popular “Top 10…”, or “10 Reasons to…” or “10 Ways to do…”. Is it me or do these kinds of things begin to get a little irritating?

With that said and done, here is my Top 7 Reasons Top 10 Lists are So Popular!

1. They are Quick. – The thing that many bloggers don’t have a lot of these days, is time. If you’re like me, you’re always looking for little 10 or 20 minute windows to pump out an entry in between the day job activities. Although I don’t really do this I have to admit, I do. But this is not a problem with Top 10 Lists! The beauty to writing out a in-depth and well thought out Top 10 List, is most of the work is already done. In in all reality, its really like writing a top 3 list!

2. Its great content that everyone loves reading! (tiny bit of sarcasm there) – If you can pull a top 10 list out of your butt and have it be at least somewhat engaging, people out there will read it. Let’s just say you do a top 10 list of the reasons why H tags are important in SEO…. If you do SEO, I’m sure you can think of 10 reasons why H tags are important, and if you can’t, I’m sure you know how to find those reasons out. The point being made is… these so-called lists are the quickest and most informative way of expressing content in a post. I bet I can do a Top 10 List every day and the average amount of traffic I get to my site will increase day after day… which brings me to point 3.

3. They are quick to read. – When someone is looking through some author’s hugely engrossing Top 10 List, if they don’t want to spend the time carefully uncovering those treasured facts, they can skim through the headings and get the gist of the post. Bold your headings or at least do some sort of thing to make your list look like an easy read.. even if it isn’t.

4. You don’t need any creativity.. Just find someone else’s top list and just jumble their list items around to make your own, it’s really simple actually for you lazy bums out there. On that same note, creativity does actually help when trying to persuade your audience why your specific list item is there, but in all reality.. they’re not reading your thought out reasons… am I right? (In this case, I hope I’m wrong).

5. They make you look informed. Although I have to say my top 7 list does not really do me any credit when it comes to social media, I just wanted to add fuel to the fire.. like I always do. Believe me, I am not an informed social media guru… I’m not even that big of a D-Bag. I’m just an individual taking both sides of the social debate. The talker and the listener… its quite fun and revealing when you are on both sides.

6. Its a nice Thursday morning write-up when you can’t think of anything else to write. – While professional bloggers might think they are future novelists and great thinkers of the Web2.0, there are times when writer’s block strikes the best of us. The beauty behind Top 10 Lists is that they are mindless. A good way to come up with a new list… 1) Take something you like. 2) Find 10 reasons you like it. 3) Spend 2 minutes writing them out. You’re done. Congratulations!

7. They are the easiest way so-called “social media experts” can get you to their content. – Sorry, but its true. When people are looking to be informed, they are looking for simple easily readable information. If that person thinks you’re credible or at least likes your list.. well great. On the other hand, those who disagree with you from time to time will also enjoy reading your lists and explaining back to you why your list is wrong and totally screwed up. Hey, but at least I’m getting traffic right?

So there you have it. My Top 7 Reasons Top 10 Lists are So Popular. If you skimmed through this and didn’t take the time to read the actual post, well then thanks. My writing isn’t good any ways.

Peace.

After the long break from work and some much needed time with my family, I’m back in the office (with a new coffee pot, thanks to my father and mother-in-law) and I’m shifting gears and starting to look deeper and harder into organic search. That crazy thing. I’m not cutting off all ties with paid search, it just is taking a back seat for a while… we’ll see.

To start the year off right, I thought it best to really dive into some of my employer’s more important search terms. Those terms you might be asking?… generic. Highly searched, highly competitive, yet highly profitable. Why do you think you see so many ads for insurance, or online schools, or investing? Those are the people who see the biggest bang for their buck for paying the most for your click. So why is this a problem.

Just as these vertical’s paid search and display campaigns might be gigantic, the affiliate marketers and content creators backing them up are just as big. Are you looking for car insurance or an online degree? Don’t type in ‘car insurance’ or ‘online degree’ in your search browser unless you want a site that will sell your information to the highest paying provider. It’s a system that works, but quite honestly, from a 50 thousand foot level, a lot of discredit goes to those searchers like you and me out there. Are we getting the service that best matches what we want? Probably.. damn, but maybe not. I guess that depends on if you know how to search for the product or service you’re looking for.

So what does this mean for me and my ongoing endeavor for search engine optimization?

Some friends and partners of mine over at KEO Marketing in Tempe, AZ have really pushed an interesting aspect of SEO on to me. “How do we get through all of the mumbo jumbo of content pushers, and affiliate aggregators in our space?” Focus your efforts along side theirs. Better yet, expand our efforts by leaps and bounds.

These affiliate websites have tons and tons of other websites networked together performing single, high output, actions at a time… and with those actions, money goes right to them. But their network of sites do all the heavy lifting.

If, as a business, we can focus our efforts as expansively as they can, shouldn’t we be able to start edging back into the 2nd or 1st pages of some long tailed keyword search results? People are typing huge search terms in these days… because they see that crap! Those are the searchers we want to see come to our site directly.

So what’s the process in doing this? You should know by now… most likely, you’re into search (why else would you even consider reading this far down into my post?).

Peace