Yelp.com – I Have Succombed

Ryan    Uncategorized     Food Reviews, Yelp

For a while now, I have used Yelp.com to find new places to get good food. Although I can’t agree with every single restaurant review on the site, I do have to say that it has helped me discover some great culinary finds both in Seattle and in Phoenix. But while my consumption of the site has been steady, the production of my own reviews has been null… until today.

After setting up a Yelp account, I have managed to check into three different places, write a review, and gain a few friends. Small potatoes, sure, but I think it is a great start to something I could totally see myself getting hooked on. From the check-in statuses, to member specials, or just the sheer bliss of having someone think a review of yours was helpful.. the benefits to being an active community member on Yelp.com does have its advantages. Let’s just see how much time I can devote to yet another social network though. Honestly.. a simple review shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes or so.

My advice: check out Yelp.com and don’t just USE the system… be a part of it. Isn’t that what social media is all about? Also while you’re there… look for me: gudmundson.yelp.com

Peace

National Mortgage Rate

Ryan    Uncategorized     Google, Lead Generation, National Mortgage Rate, Paid Search

After checking my mail and browsing the top headlines on my iGoogle page, one specific keyphrase caught my eye… “National Mortgage Rate.” Now I know what you might be thinking… actually I don’t. Let me just say, it’s on my mind.

Any ways, after checking the average rates, trends, yadda yadda yadda, I did a simple Google search for “National Mortgage Rate” and came up with this ingenious paid search ad:

Interesting huh?

So let’s dissect this just a tiny bit… It looks like a Paid Search ad, there’s a heading, some content, and then a link.. but then there are some radio buttons and a ‘Compare rates’ button. That’s new, well at least, it hasn’t shown up in a Google search result for me before. After a quick click-through, this is what I came upon…

Click the image to get a better view

Do you see what I see?

Sure it might just look like a great way for us to put in our home loan information and then shop around for the best refinancing options available.. I mean its just a phone call away right? But let’s just think about this for one second. Google has all of this information. We’re still at Google.com… we still see our iGoogle login at the top of the screen… why is Google helping me make this very life-changing decision by giving me some valuable information?

Want the hard truth? Google has stepped into the lead generation spotlight. Really.. and I think they have poised themselves to pretty much kill everything, or at least alter, in their wake.

If Google is able to put THEIR link on the TOP of their paid search listings… (Yeah.. it looks new.. so people are going to click it), why would anyone shop around further? I would think they’d stick around on Google for a little while longer right? So let’s just say they do so. Now, people are given hard numbers.. prices, rates.. even phone numbers! If I can see that I can pay $300 bucks less on my home loan with all of the same loan information and all of the same valuation, I’m going to go out and contact that particular bank.. for sure. So where does Google make it’s money?

Instead of Google Adwords selling a company a single click, now they are able to sell a company a true and honest lead. Oh my God. How much do you think companies are willing to pay Google if someone has actively shown an interest in their company and are very serious about buying a home or refinancing? It is really staggering to imagine the money that can be flowing between Google and their advertisers. But I guess that is life right?

So whats next? I say.. look for these same types of comparison shopping (aka Lead Generation) advertisements to flood your searches. It’ll be a while before it hits everything.. but if you’re looking at purchasing a big  ticket item… (mortgage/home, online education, insurance, etc) look out. By all means, USE IT! But understand that Google has poised themselves to get some major bang for their buck when it comes to lead gen.

Peace

Why Fluff is Important

Ryan    Uncategorized     Content, Fluff Content

… but don’t tell you kids that.

So what fluff am I talking about? To make a long story short… it’s content.

We all understand that ‘Content is King’ and that content drives links, which drives traffic, which makes us successful…  yadda yadda yadda. But have you ever stopped to think about just what kind of content people are making these days? Are we all best selling authors? journalists? or celebrity personalities? No, we’re content creators, but I think the line between us and those traditional publishers is getting finer and finer by the day. But for differing reasons than what you might be thinking.

Sure I’m not Shakespeare, but the words I say and the things I do are relevant to me, as well as a small population of individuals who get a kick out of learning more about me. Although I don’t appeal to the mass audiences of the online world, I know there is a place for me somewhere.. either a well known niche, or just my own backyard. It’s kind of a brand thing. But as consumers begin to rely less and less on mass media and more and more on specialized media, personal opinion, or voice, it is clear that our viewpoints are becoming a lot more important to the continuously increasingly educated population. Although some people might think this is a fallback on progress and the romanticism of emotion and personal feeling..  I will argue that it is the humanization of progress. A necessary evil needed to make sure we don’t end up like the workers on Metropolis. (I’ve never thought about falling in love with a robot)

Do I think my own blog or my own content is fluff content? Sometimes, but to all of you who read this, there has got to be a least one simple takeaway you can gain, right? There is no question that that vast majority of information out there has some kind of agenda to it, but I think that has kind of been the name of the game since the idea of popularity first plagued our minds. “What do I need to do in order to get this…?”

The moment when too much effort is put on the result and not enough on the execution, we will see the masses becoming wise to the publication of fluff content. But although it is not really a bad thing, it could eventually lead to the restructuring of how we make, see, and use data on the internet as we know it. Agendas are fine, but make sure you’re actually giving someone a reason to be a part of your agenda… otherwise, you’ll lose them all in the long run.

Peace

Why I Have Writers Block

Ryan    Uncategorized     Personal Blogs, Professional Blog, Social Media, Writers Block

I really don’t have writers block, but for some reason, ever since baby X was born, I haven’t been quite as motivated to talk about myself or what I’m doing.Sure I am just another human individual working my human job, but is there anything really exciting about that? I’m not really trying to sell myself right now, so I don’t really know if I should feel compelled to continue to write to an unknown audience when I am so extremely busy at work… (I feel like I should put a question mark there…)?

Although I know the answer, I feel that I need to persuade myself again and again the reasoning behind it.

I don’t consider myself an expert at anything, but I think the underlying purpose of blogging is primarily for personal growth. Today, social media has turned into a business of communication. While blogging is a vital aspect of this communication, the personal blog has become a strange conundrum for the working professional, especially if that person focuses in social media on a day to day basis. While we tell ourselves that the coordination between personal and professional humanizes our professional appeal, it also seems to ‘mechanicalize’ our personal appeal, which I think can be damaging. Is it too much to suggest that every one of us is a sell-out to our own personal brand? No, but then again, that is what makes our brand… personal.

So to make a long story short, I will be the first to admit my personal brand is pretty chaotic. Although it was first built on a foundation of appeasement to all those interested in listening, it began to turn into personal heartfelt story, and now is a vast juxtaposition of creativity, logic, and pure insanity. Is that really who I am? Maybe, but I think everyone one of us has to be a little insane.. it’s what makes life fun right?

So what is next you may be asking? I guess it goes back to that whole idea of personal growth. It was a sad and gloomy day when I realized I couldn’t make millions of dollars through my subpar writing skills, but that is not going to burst my bubble! Recollection, description, and logical creativity in a natural prose is really what I’m trying to produce for me and me alone. Whether other people come by and say hi, I will never know, but I do know one thing for sure… actually I don’t.

Peace