Frothy fear

how many people read the A list

When I was eating sushi and chatting with Jeremy Wright, CEO of B5 Media, and Don MacAskill, CEO of SmugMug, Don, at one point, pointed out that SmugMug had 150,000 paying customers and was profitable. I answered back “oh, I guess you aren’t a Web 2.0 company then” and we all had a big laugh.

But that laugh has been bothering me. Comedy works best when it’s reflecting a truth no one wants to admit in public. I’m noticing something in the valley. The newer companies are struggling to get noticed. Are struggling to figure out how to get outside the TechCrunch/TailRank/TechMeme/Reddit/Digg/Slashdot/Om/Scoble bubble.

I’ve been awfully cheery of late, but I’ve been comparing traffic notes with bloggers, journalists, CEOs, and other geeks and there simply isn’t that big a pool of traffic out there unless you can get some hot search term on Google or Yahoo.

Hint: what’s Jeremy’s most profitable blog? It ain’t about Ruby on Rails. It’s about Lindsay Lohan.

The thing I’m noticing is that outside the valley most people use search engines to find things. Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc.

How strong is that? Well, insiders tell me that one of the top search terms over at Yahoo is actually “Google.” And one of the top search terms at Google is “Yahoo.”

Why is that? Because most people outside the little tech bubble we live in every day don’t know how to use Web browsers. They have been trained to use the search box.

Not many people are talking about how to get outside of our little tech bubble. At least not in public.

But Joe Kraus, CEO of Jotspot, let slip that he’s hired a person who is just analyzing how good their keyword advertising is working. He wouldn’t tell me his favorite Google keyword. Why not? Cause that’s how he’s going to escape the bubble and provide a return on investment for his investors.

I wish we had a conference on “how to find customers outside of the tech bubble?” The entire industry could use some creative thinking there.

Getting outside the frothy bubble

Scoble and Matt Cutts

Google Love

Steve Rubel and Joanne Colan

 

A must view interview on new media. Short and to the point.

Joanne's accent makes Rocketboom more international.

She should keep it not change it

Scoble like the bison is extinct

Scoble not interesting any more?

I think podcasting ran out of gas before it even took off.

Katie minus 20 Lbs

Katie Couric

google and apple

one for Ray

Oh yes

picturesque

About the Pictograph Book

Some pictures say it all, while others seem to ask questions. This blog is about pictures that tell stories and complete ideas. Of course where the picture is not clear, I'll do my best to complete it. ;). Enjoy the pictures and stories that they tell.


A picture is worth a thousand words is a familiar proverb that refers to the idea that complex stories can be told with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. It also aptly characterizes the goals of information visualization where large amounts of data must be absorbed quickly.

It is often referred to as a Chinese proverb, but it is believed that the phrase was actually coined by Fred R. Barnard in the advertising trade journal, Printers' Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars. The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, "One Look is Worth A Thousand Words."

Another ad by Barnard appears in the March 10, 1927 issue with the phrase "One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words," where it is labelled a Chinese proverb. The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Familiar Phrases quotes Barnard as saying he called it "a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously." Soon after, the proverb would become popularly attributed to Confucius.

A picture ...