Spire Express » Uncategorized

Sites vs. Apps

Mike — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:52:38 +0000

Bill Siwicki, editor of Mobile Commerce Report, put together an interesting piece for Intenet Retailer Magazine discussing the pros and cons of mobile sites and mobile apps. He contrasts sites (which have a large reach) with apps (which provide a better user experience). In addition to the clearing up some of the confusion regarding the 2 marketing channels, he discusses why one would go in one direction or the other. For example, an app would potentially have access to the address on someone’s smartphone, where a site would not. Conversely, a site would be available to far more users without the overhead of having to download and install an app.

Read article on Internet Retailer here

Read print article here

Will Social Media Kill E-mail?

Mike — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:25:12 +0000

I think e-mail is here to stay. But then so are newspapers and books. It’s not a bad thing that different media compete. I believe that e-mail will continue to be king in business. But when it comes to group conversations outside the workplace, social media is just a better experience. One can tweak program settings so that SMS updates are sent for those individuals you want to hear from instantaneously. Other postings are seen when logging into the application, perhaps once a day or more often, depending on one’s proximity to a computing device. If you tire of a user’s constant posting of the minutiae of their life, it is easy to hide or even block them. Each user is in control of the connections they make and the way that information is posted to their wall or news feed. Facebook, for instance will allow you to block a particular application. You might want to see posts from your friend, but not all the ZOO postings that he or she makes. You can block just ‘ZOO’ but not your friend. I’m curious, does anyone know if the other user sees your block?

With the advent of the ipad I believe social media will take off even more.

What are SERPs?

Mike — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:52:23 +0000

Do you know what a SERP is? No, it’s not one of those guys that carries some of your gear up Everest. Check out this glossary from Search Engine Strategies magazine. There are some TLAs (that’s a three-letter acronym) and terms that are must-know if you’re contemplating getting your feet wet with search-engine marketing.

ARTICLE HERE

Opening a window on the Mac

Mike — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:03:48 +0000

Interesting article in WSJ last week. Some handy hints on making the switch – Opening a Window on the Mac. I can still remember the moment for me when I came over from the PC side. It was about 1994. I was using Windows 3.1 at work; was familiar and comfortable writing batch programs, used DOSSHELL. Computing had come a long way at that time. However, I didn’t know what I was missing. I had tried to purchase some typesetting some years prior from a company that used an Apple Leasa (sp?). It was a not-so-great experience.

That was still fresh in my mind when I went to work at my hometown’s newspaper. I can remember the first night. I got a 10-minute introduction to the mac plus that they were using and then left on my own to type up some stories. I decided that it would be a good idea to create a folder to keep the stories in. I managed to somehow get a folder on the desktop (what was this desktop, anyway?) and then proceeded to look for a command in the menu structure to name it something other than “untitled folder”. I rummaged through all the desk drawers until I found a manual. The manual was quite sparse as I remember. Where were all the hundreds or thousands of pages that described every command in minutiae? Frustrated, I turned back to the tiny 9″ hi-res screen and clicked on the folder name. It became highlighted!! I then typed the name of the issue and I was converted to a mac user at that instance. I never looked back.

Should you be tempted to make the switch, this article explains some of the differences between the 2 operating systems.

story here

From Prospects to Profits

Mike — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:18:12 +0000

Marketers spend millions to generate a response from a customer, but then strike out at the most crucial point of the acquisition cycle – when the customer reaches out. Typically, only 40-60% of ad responders become customers. That translates to approximately 50% of high-value leads that are lost.

Legislators spending more to inform voters

Mike — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:26:06 +0000

The cost of staying in touch continues to rise in Augusta, as state lawmakers spend more tax dollars on mail to their constituents.

Big Daily’s ‘Hyperlocal’ Flop

Mike — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:30:30 +0000

FOR BELIEVERS in the power of rigorous local coverage to help save newspapers, the Washington Post’s launch of LoudounExtra.com last July was a potentially industry-defining event. It paired a journalistic powerhouse with a dream team of Internet geeks to build a virtual town square for one of Virginia’s and the nation’s most-affluent and fastest-growing counties. Almost a year later, however, the Web site is still searching for an audience.

The Customer Experience

Mike — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:46:02 +0000

For someone who just checked into a New York hotel after being up all night on his new airline’s first Dubai to New York flight, Ian Ferguson-Brown sounds remarkably relaxed. Throw in the fact that he is launching that airline when airlines are dicey financial propositions at best, and he sounds downright tranquil. “Our mission and our vision is to change hospitality and aviation,” says Ferguson-Brown, head of brand management for United Arab Emirate-based Etihad Airlines.

Why Sneaky Tactics May Not Help Resume

Mike — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:27:18 +0000

IT is getting harder for job hunters to game the systems that recruiters use to identify potential candidates. Ever since employers started using text-searching programs to sort job resumes more than a dozen years ago, savvy applicants have sought to boost the odds that their resumes will make the cut. Computer programs search for the skills, job experience and other attributes an employer wants and then rank candidates. To trick the program to rank their resumes higher, some job hunters insert keywords that can’t be seen by the naked eye.

Internet Reshapes Role of Media Buyers

Mike — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:57:43 +0000

important role since the Internet and other digital media have exploded the variety of media outlets available for marketers. But not all the changes flowing from digital technology are as welcome. A push by several advertisers for the creation of an online ad-sales marketplace, run by eBay, has proved controversial on Madison Avenue…