For the most part, I understand StumbleUpon.com, and certainly since receiving great reviews and excellent ratings, I very much appreciate Stumble Upon.
After limited research, I have not been able to find significant information regarding the specifics of the system and algorithm used by Stumble Upon to garner a sites’ star rating, which star you are rated at and why, and at what level your site/page is served to participating Stumblers as they Stumble. I am sure that the number of Stumbled page views, subsequent ratings, whether thumbs up or down, play a majority role, but at what level?
More specifically, I have the following questions:
1) How are sites/pages given a star rating? What is that rating based upon? How can a rating be affected positively or negatively?
2) Is there a more refined directory of pages that have been stumbled? For instance, Atilus.com has many Stumbled pages with varying ratings, so where is a list of those pages so that I can actively monitor success?
I would love to understand this excellent service more. Can anyone offer me insight on this topic? Please provide me and my readers with as much information as possible, and I will personally respond to all those that post.
I often read the ingeniousness that Seth Godin continues to pump out for mainstream consumption, and the post referred to in today’s Marketing Profs e-newsletter is certainly no exception. He hits yet another home run, and I don’t mind giving it props.
As a shining example, read this Marketing profs e-newsletter here and just try not to agree with Seth. I dare you!
If you had or have a cell phone contract with ANY major telecommunications company you will be chanting Seth Godin’s name by the end.
I HAD Sprint PCS and I would rather choke down a basket of salmonella poisoned tomatoes and wash it down with $4.50/gallon gasoline… all based on my customer service (or lack of) experience.
We all hate a traditional bait and switch scam where you are expecting one thing and are sucker punched with another. With the economy in the current state that it is in, it is certainly no surprise that marketers and business owners are becoming creatively deceptive. (Perhaps they should read my blog post, which offers tips to beat the economy with respect for your company and your consumer.)
Gas stations have been advertising one amount per gallon, but charging another… just for using a credit card?
They call it the “cash customer discount”, and I am torn to an opinion. On one hand, I respect that gas prices are increasingly more expensive, and in an attempt to pass savings on to consumers, they are only profiting an average of 2.7 cents a gallon. Also, offering “cash discounts” enables them to bypass expensive credit card transaction fees averaging 2% of sale per transaction, in addition to encouraging customers to come into the store to purchase perishable goods, lottery tickets, etc.
But then the responsible and ethical marketer in me steps in. Bait and switch schemes are never okay. Ever. They are profiting from pure dishonesty and that is intolerable.
Though, by advertising both prices- cash and credit, which they are now being forced to do, this turns the mindset around from screwing credit card users to now offering a sensible, cheaper alternative to those willing to pay cash. And I can sit well with that.
During a great meditative session last night, I was able to completely let myself be taken over. I opened my heart and shut off my mind. This enabled me to listen intensively, without hesitation, doubt or self hindrance.
As I reflected, I thought a lot about Atilus’ recent level of success and how easy it will be for us to sustain this and continue to move towards greater and greater goals with larger and larger accomplishments. But we must remain solid as a unit. Any deviation from positive progression of thoughts, words and actions can derail this.
With that said, I would also like to take a moment to thank every team member for being a part of this working miracle that has become Atilus. We all play an intricate role in this machine and all parts are certainly firing on all cylinders. Zach, our CEO, offers brilliant innovation, leadership and creative deliverance, Harry, our COO, is a very caring, attentive and strategic project manager that is always refining our process to ensure intuitive success, while Jermaine is the best project facilitator I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, as he stops at nothing to ensure all clients are well taken care of at the expense of his very sanity. And certainly, our driving force is the design, development and marketing teams that continue to produce the highest quality work for our clients.
And this post wouldn’t be even a figment of imagination if it wasn’t for our clients. We have been truly graced with excellent clients and we will continue to work diligently towards their success, as well. Our success depends on our clients success. We are what they make us.
In conclusion, Atilus’ is an excellent team and I am honored and blessed to have joined this team. Thank you and God speed to us all.
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
It’s official. The world has gone green. It is no longer ‘cool’ to buy ridiculously large gas guzzling vehicles, and nothing is more attractive to a woman than a man who recycles.
Hmmm… have you taken your company green?
Have you thought of the many ways to market yourself as a green company?
Do you recycle, conserve energy, or use eco-friendly products and perform eco-friendly services?
If not, shame on you. If so, market the hell out of it!
But think before you engage in marketing this… don’t contradict your self.
Ever wonder why Harley Davidson owners are such evangelists for the brand?
Ever wonder why certain brands are able to maintain loyalty while others lack in sustainability?
“Recent research into how companies like these successfully operate brand communities has pointed up some key points for marketers to keep in mind…”
Here is an excellent article by Marketing Profs on the topic.
Also, to help facilitate your user community, actively engage your consumers in positive reinforcing conversation. And do so by centralizing it on the web via a community forum, blog, or better yet, a social networking application.
Here at Atilus we have a passion and zest for discovering and delivering the greatest, most effective, most inexpensive ways of maximizing someone’s web presence… even if it’s not our client!
We are swell guys, huh?
Anyway, we opened up our office doors, our phone lines, and our conference rooms to anyone and everyone seeking knowledge, advice and insight into a new web venture, preexisting web ventures, creative internet marketing, and whatever else they felt the need to ask us.
We took the time to extensively review web site analytic reports, asked the hard questions about current marketing methods in use, and offered our best consulting to ensure that when they left our office or hung up that phone they confidently could take their web presence to the next level.
Among our discussions, we delivered information on effective and strategic Pay per Click marketing management tips, search engine optimization must haves’, web design and development do’s and dont’s, and we even spilled our secrets regarding creatively marketing your site on the web using such free services as StumbleUpon.com, Digg.com, YouTube.com, and other social web applications to optimize your web exposure.
Didn’t get a chance to ask the questions wieghing you and your business down?
Give Scott Clark or Zach Katkin, the Internet Therapists, a call at 239.362.1271 to set up an appointment for your own consulting session.
The SXSW (South by Southwest Interactive Conference) interview, March 9th, Austin Texas. This was no ordinary interview, chosen Business Week Journalist Sarah Lacy was to interview keynote speaker Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.
I would like to be nice and feel sorry for Sarah, but the utter truth is this interview was a “trainwreck”. Because of Mark’s shy, nature it was uncomfortable for Sarah from the beginning because of her way of “personally” interviewing him. Throughout the interview she dropped self-references, and had a “flirty” style of discussion (body language says it all), further she enjoyed talking about her relationship with Mark as an interviewer, more than asking him questions about Facebook or the like.
It didn’t stop there however; Sarah did not connect with the audience on any level. Sarah in my opinion created an adversarial relationship with audience. At one point the crown became so upset and vicious with her she responded to the crowd by saying “You don’t know how hard my job is up here” and she said “I am trying to ask interesting questions….you think you guys can do any better?” After asking the audience to come ask their questions, she said to the audience: “If you think I suck so bad why don’t you send me an e-mail?” The next audience member then responded by saying: “what’s your e-mail address?” At this point the roar from the crowd was out of control. She begins speaking of his journal that he writes about his ideas for Facebook and that she heard that he burns them, and Zuckerberg says “I don’t burn them” He proceeds by saying “You have to ask questions”, if you watch the video you’ll hear the crowd roar and clap in Zuckerbergs favor. At one point in this utter disaster (supposedly an interview), she says “You’ve seen me throw a full glass of water at Michael Errington, I just want to warn you” Zuckerberg reaches for the bottle of water, and places it on the floor. What else could possibly go wrong?
There are two sides to every story right? or shall we call it “crisis management”?
Throughout the interview both Sarah and Mark took two completely different routes if you will. A few days after the interview both Zuckerberg and Lacy responded on her Twitter message by responding “Seriously screw all you guys. I did my best to ask a range of things.” This is clearly not the way to manage crisis, despite all of the criticism she received from the audience and bloggers days after the interview.
Zuckerberg, took a much more humble approach, he held a Q & A session , with a little humor Zuckerberg began the Q & A by saying “Yesterday’s Q & A wasn’t enough fun”. The audience asked him about privacy issues and where Facebook as a social network sees its self in the near future.
This keynote interview, had two sides to the story. Look at how Lacy responded on her Twitter message with a cold shoulder, and look at how Zuckerberg held a Q & A and humbled himself.
Was Lacy handed “the pink slip” after this interview?Unfortunately not.
Do you think Sarah Lacy learned her lesson? To be brutally honest with you, NO!
Last night, February 21st, 2008 Scott and I had the opportunity of attending the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track hosted networking event. The event was special in that it combined the Fort Myers and Bonita Springs chambers for a larger than normal turnout and networking opportunity.
We met a lot of new great people with some amazing companies and had a lot of phone. I bought a few tickets to try and win an autographed 2007 World Series Baseball, but unfortunately I didn’t win.
At the end of the night Pat Hillegass came up to me with a copy of her Success magazine. Pat publishes the local magazine resource that features all of the networking events in the Southwest Florida area. I had personally been searching for such a resource and was incredibly happy to make the connection. Pat informed me that her website is under development, but in just a few weeks if you visit: Successync.com you’ll be able to find a comprehensive list of local networking events.
Thank you to all of those involved in throwing the event, thank you to the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track for hosting, and although I’ll be sending out individual emails to those I met, it was nice meeting everyone!
I just got finished reading a very interesting article from MarketingProfs. Last year Nationwide Insurance decided to “leak” it’s Super Bowl ad (see video below) prior to the Super Bowl, making the ad available via social networks like youtube, myspace, and others.
According to the article, and Nationwide - the gamble paid off:
“The spot—starring Kevin Federline as a rap star wannabe who works at a fast food joint—garnered 600,000 hits at the company’s Web site, and the majority of these were from first-time visitors. Further, Schreibman notes the unorthodox strategy didn’t prevent the ad from winding up on several “best of” lists.”
Despite the leak the ad continued to receive awards and accolades on and off line long after the super bowl. By using the power of social networks and the viral way in which they spread information they were able to get in front of a much larger audience with this daring move.
For the most part, I understand StumbleUpon.com, and certainly since receiving great reviews and excellent ratings, I very much appreciate Stumble Upon. 
And certainly, our driving force is the design, development and marketing teams that continue to produce the highest quality work for our clients.
