Newsletter #143 Dare to be Different Online

Our last newsletter (20th July, 2010) was "Great Website Design in 2010".

Feature Article

In 2010 the Internet is merely a youngster in human terms and will develop significantly in future decades. As Brad Ferren said several years ago: "Trying to assess the true importance and function of the Net now is like asking the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk if they were aware of the potential of American Airlines Advantage Miles."

There are basic things that you need to do online that make sure your company is keeping up with the play like:

1. Making sure your Website is easy to use and information conveniently located
2. Getting your site search engine optimised to a good standard
3. Taking advantage of pay-for-click advertising like Google AdWords where appropriate
4. Using social media, again when it fits, to bring attention and interact with your brand

But what about doing something a little different? It is hard, which will make it more rewarding if it comes off, as most of your competitors won't bother.

As Albert Einstein said: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." The world is full of mediocre companies following old tried formulas that have worked in the past and that are expected to work again in the future. The trouble is that the Internet is in adolescence (if that) and is evolving so rapidly so that yesterday's cutting edge is today's recipe for failure.

A good example is search engine optimising (SEO). Many people think that all you need to do to get to the top of Google is play with some hidden tags on your Website and hey presto it will happen. Not quite, you're only a decade out of date - before the advent of Google, this was the case.

Those who are little more up with the play know that to get a good ranking for search terms you need to use those search terms on your site in a number of areas, preferably together on a focussed page. Even that is out of date. Google's Page Rank gives all Websites a rank based on how many other sites link to it and how important those sites are so 'off site' link building is even more important than the 'on site' stuff. Competition has made the difference - it's relatively easy to change your site to be search engine friendly so most competent companies have done that over the past few years.

Today we have seen a huge growth in social media and the emergence of a behemoth in that sector: Facebook. So what are businesses around the world trying to do? Yes they're trying to tweak the Facebook model to create the new 'big' thing or merely looking for ways to use Facebook to their best advantage.

As Bruce Simpson of Aardvark says:  "Twitter has exploded because it didn't try to mimic the features and functions of FaceBook, it created a whole new model and feature-set." The technology is important but it's more about understanding how people interact and what they may need to maintain their relationships and bring about new ones.

Here at Netinsites we've just launched a blog site called WhyHighHeelsSuck.com which has a number of objectives:

1. To have a bit of fun at the expense of the fashion industry. We believe they do.....
2. To put our money where our mouth is. How can we advise organisations to take a few risks unless we do?
3. To help promote Netinsites

We know for sure that sticking to tried and true methods with your Internet strategy is not a good long term plan.

Hot Tips

Newbies

Unless you have huge files or don't have broadband, online backup is the best way to go. It can be setup so you don't have to remember to do it. This is where most backup systems fail - through human fallability. Also over the last few years it has become far cheaper so it's affordable even at the personal level. From our online research it appears the current best service is SugarSync which continuously backs up your data as you work. You can get a free account of 2GB and 30GB is a mere US$4.99 per month. https://www.sugarsync.com/

Power Users

Dropbox is a Web-based file hosting service that allows users to share files and folders with others using file synchronisation. The Dropbox client allows users to drop files into a designated folder which is then synced continuously with Dropbox's Web service and other user's computers and devices. It can also be used as an online storage device. The service is free up to 2GB and US$9.99 per month for up to 50GB. https://www.dropbox.com/

Interesting Sites

BlendTec's YouTube channel Will It Blend? is not strictly a site but is worth bringing to your attention if you haven't seen it already. On it company founder Tom Dickson is shown blending all sorts of items in the company's BlendTec blender. The latest video up there at time of writing is Vuvuzela World Cup 2010 - what a great choice! A great example of the power of video. http://www.youtube.com/blendtec

InsiteFul Quotes

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." Albert Einstein - thanks Clyth.

You can see our other Quick Quotes on the front page of www.netinsites.com; just refresh the page to see another one randomly selected from our database. Great for presentations or times when you want to appear to be a techno-dude(ss)!

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Best wishes

Alex Garden